Demons (Book I)
by VillageIdi0t
Summary: We all have regrets. Some of us run, but can we truly escape our demons or must we confront them to find peace? Temporary Cover.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A Sandwing wearing a torn tan cloak is in a dimly lit room. She's rummaging through some of her supplies. As she does, another Sandwing flies in and lands at the entrance.

"Octopus tentacle, shell of snail, talon of dragon, thistle. Hhhhmmm, could use some more eye of newt."

"Ahem," the Sandwing by the entrance said.

The cloaked Sandwing slightly turned her head towards him. "What updates do you have for me?"

"He has just arrived at a settlement called Bogwater in the Mudwing Kingdom," the Sandwing stated.

"Horrible name for a town," the dragon responded in a raspy voice. "Take three other dragons and wait for him outside of the town. Ambush him and bring him to me."

"It will be done." The Sandwing bowed and backed out. The cloaked Sandwing started looking through her supplies again.

"Soon Pyrrhia will be ours and all Kingdoms will bow to you my King." The cloaked Sandwing started to cackle.

* * *

Four dragons flew into a Mudwing town: One Skywing, one Nightwing, one Sandwing, and a slightly strange looking Seawing. They landed outside the town and walked towards it.

"I hate the Mudwing Kingdom. It's disgusting and muddy," the Sandwing spat. "Why are we here?"

"It's part of our adventure of course!" the Nightwing said excitedly. "Exploring Pyrrhia. Seeing places our tribes have only heard of. It's so exciting!"

"And food. Don't forget food," the Seawing smiled. "I'm starved."

"Tide, you're always hungry," the Skywing responded.

"Your point?" Tide smirked. "Anyways, these trading posts always have great food."

"Why not just catch our own food?" the Sandwing asked. "I don't see the point in buying prey from another dragon."

"Some of these dragons have worked on different food combinations to make some truly amazing meals," Tide responded. "Have you ever ate chicken with a mango sauce before? Doubt it."

"Whatever. Just grab something so we can go. All I can smell is the bog," the Sandwing said with a frown.

"Well, if you would stop dwelling on it, grouch," Tide responded while shaking her head. The group entered the small town where dragons of all tribes were here selling wares, foods, and talking with each other. Bogwater was established after the Sandwing Succession in an attempt to rekindle some civility among the tribes. Due to its location, it was a common place for Sandwings and Skywings to visit, and periodically Seawings would venture here.

"I think it's cool seeing all these dragons from different tribes socializing with each other. Makes the war seem so long ago," the Nightwing said as she smiled.

"It is a nice change of pace to see dragons at peace," the Skywing agreed. He noticed Tide eyeing a stall with some food before stopping. "What you looking at?"

"Fresh salmon with a cranberry sauce. Sounds good," Tide responded as she pulled a pouch off of her belt.

"Put that back, Tide. I got it." the Skywing told her. He took a pouch from around his neck and started checking how much treasure he had.

"Inferno, it's my food. I'm going to pay for it," Tide said in an amused tone.

"It's the least I can do," Inferno stated. "Besides, you need to save your coin. Make it last as long as you can."

"What are you talking about? I have plenty." Then it dawned on Tide. "Inferno, don't pay just to keep me from that. I told you it's different."

"But what's wrong with me helping?" Inferno questioned. "Besides, it's not expensive and I have plenty as well."

"I don't need to be babied and protected Inferno," Tide said slightly irritated.

Inferno sighed. "Tide, this is a stupid argument. Just let me pay for the food. There's no sense in making a big deal about this."

"Yes please! Just let him pay! You love birds are giving me a head ache!" the Sandwing said while rubbing his temples.

"We aren't love birds!" Inferno said uncomfortably as he blushed. Tide angrily looked at the Sandwing for a second.

The Sandwing snorted. "If you say so."

"I think it's sweet." The Nightwing smiled.

"Of course you would," the Sandwing retorted.

"We aren't done with this conversation. I know what this is about," Tide told Inferno with a frown.

"As long as I win once today," Inferno said as he left to get the food.

"Why are you so against him buying you food? It seems like a nice gesture to me," the Nightwing asked as she and Tide started to explore a little more. The Sandwing had left to find a nice place to sit.

"There's more to it than that," Tide sighed.

"What is it then?" the Nightwing pushed.

"Don't worry about it," Tide said dismissively. They walked for a little longer before Inferno returned with a seaweed wrapped fish and two hogs.

"Here you go, Tide," Inferno said as he handed her the fish. "I heard you say something about liking hog on the way over here Amethyst. Figured I'd grab one for the each of us."

"Thanks! That's very kind of you. It's my favorite food besides kiwi and maybe bananas," Amethyst responded as Inferno gave her the hog. "You ever try either of those?"

"No. I'm not even really sure what those are. Never been to the rainforest," Inferno informed her.

"Well, you really should. The fruits are great! I'm sure there is some around here." Amethyst started looking at the tables nearby.

"Where did grump go?" Inferno asked Tide and Amethyst.

"I'm not sure." Tide looked around. She hadn't even noticed he left. "Should've known it was too quiet."

"Sandstone is sitting over there." Amethyst pointed to an opening away from the venders. There was a small clear pond in the opening. Some Seawings were playing in the clear water which was probably the cleanest water for miles. Almost all the dragons were in groups, so it was easy to spot the Sandwing sitting by himself slightly away from the crowd.

"Ah. I see him," Tide said. She and Inferno started to walk away. "You coming Amethyst?"

"I'll be there soon. Looking for something," she said as she continued to scan the venders.

"What is it?" Tide asked as she stopped. Inferno noticed and stopped as well. "I might be able to help."

"It's a surprise!" Amethyst giggled before spotting it. "Aha! You guys go ahead. I'll meet up in a few." She then started snaking her way through the crowd.

Tide and Inferno resumed walking to Sandstone. Tide did a small laugh then shook her head. "Now you've done it."

Inferno looked at her. "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything."

"I'm calling it now. The 'surprise' is going to be fruit. I'll almost guarantee you that's what it is," Tide said with a smirk.

"Oh. Maybe I should've mentioned that I hate fruit. That melon you gave me last week was disgusting," Inferno said.

"Just try a bite and say it isn't really your thing," Tide reasoned.

They walked over to where Sandstone was and sat down. He looked up from the plant he was studying as they did and noticed amethyst was missing. "Where's Amethyst?"

"She's getting a surprise," Inferno said.

"Probably fruit," Tide added.

"Great. Now she's going to lecture us about plants. Can't wait," Sandstone grumbled.

Tide rolled her eyes and opened the seaweed wrap revealing a fish covered with a dark red sauce. She took a bite and immediately spit it out. "Oh gross!" She started spitting a little. "Alright fish and cranberries do NOT mix." Inferno started laughing.

"Nothing goes well with fish. Lizards on the other hand are a different story," Sandstone declared.

Soon after, Amethyst showed up with an arm full of fruit and dumped the colorful bounty between everyone. "Surprise! The best food ever!" Amethyst announced. "I got enough for everyone! Here try this Inferno." She threw him a banana which he caught and looked at hesitantly. "Go on. Try it! It's not poisonous or anything. You learn what to eat and what not to eat pretty fast in the rainforest. For instance, I don't recommend the frogs. Had some crazy hallucinations after that experience."

Inferno looked at the banana again and took a hesitant bite. He tried to stop his face from going askew as he chewed, but in doing so, he made a very strange expression causing Tide to snicker as she tried to restrain her laughter. Even Sandstone cracked a short-lived grin. "Well, what do you think?" Amethyst asked innocently.

"I–" Inferno started in a strained voice. He then did a small cough and continued. "I wasn't the biggest fan of it."

"Eh. That's fine. Everyone has different tastes." Amethyst shrugged. "Even if yours is wrong."

"How can your taste be wrong?" Inferno chuckled.

"I don't know, but yours obviously is. Tide is eating them," Amethyst pointed out.

"I don't count," Tide said with a mouthful of starfruit. "My food was awful."

"How about you try it, Sandstone?" Amethyst offered.

"No," Sandstone simply replied.

"Aw come on! You might like it!" Amethyst insisted.

"No."

"Why not? Why not at least try it?" Amethyst pushed. "It's not like it would hurt anything if you did."

"Two reasons: One. Sandwings can go weeks on the slightest morsel of food, so I'm not hungry. Two. I don't care. Three. I don't like fruit. It's too juicy and messy. Oh wait, that was three reasons," Sandstone said. "Any questions, comments, or concerns?"

"Alright. Fine. More for Tide and I," Amethyst concluded.

She sat down and started eating. They ate for a little before Amethyst noticed another dragon sitting by himself. "Poor guy," Amethyst said.

"Who are you talking about?" Tide asked as she looked at Amethyst.

"That dragon over there. He's all alone," Amethyst pointed to him. "Everyone else here is socializing."

"Maybe he just wants to be alone," Sandstone offered.

"No. I agree with Amethyst. He looks sad," Tide noticed. "He's looking straight down at his fruit. He's not even eating very much of it."

"Where?" Inferno turned and started looking.

"He's the Nightwing away from everyone else. By the weeping willow," Amethyst said. "Aaaww. Even the tree is sad."

"I don't think he's a Nightwing. He might have black scales, but he looks more like a Seawing. He looks to even have luminescent scales," Tide said.

"We should invite him over here!" Amethyst suggested.

"I already have to deal with you three. I don't want a fourth," Sandstone stated.

"Oh come on! Sandstone just look at him!" Amethyst pleaded. Sandstone looked at the dragon for a little. It looked like he felt something for the dragon, but whatever it was, it was quickly covered up.

"I hold firm to 'no'."

Amethyst thought for a second. "You know what? This is my trip and if I say he can join, then he can join. It's three against one anyways."

Sandstone frowned. "Fine. Whatever you want. Just more dragons to look after."

"Alright. Inferno, you go invite him," Tide said as Amethyst smiled.

"What? Why me?" Inferno asked as he swallowed a bite of his food.

"Because Sandstone will probably just anger him, Amethyst will probably scare him off with her energy, and I want to mess around with him," Tide reasoned.

"Those are stupid reasons," Inferno stated. "Well, besides the one for Sandstone." Sandstone looked up and opened his mouth, but he then thought for a second and immediately closed it. "Amethyst should be the one to go. She's the one who wants him over here in the first place!"

"Alright then. Look at it this way. I did you a favor by letting you buy my food, so now you should do me a favor by talking to the dragon," Tide said with a smile.

"Again horrible reasons!" Inferno exclaimed. "I can literally say you should do it for that same reason."

"I think you should too," Amethyst said.

"It's two against one. You go," Tide quickly declared. Inferno looked back and forth at the both of them before frowning.

"Of course you two females would team up against me. Back me up here, Sandstone," Inferno said.

"Just go see if the dragon wants to join," Sandstone said in an irritated voice as he used his talon to cover his face in annoyance. "I think this just overthrew the last argument for being the dumbest debate ever."

"Thanks for the support there, Sandstone," Inferno muttered. "Alright fine. I'm going." Inferno stood up and started walking over to the dragon. The dragon looked up as Inferno approached. Inferno didn't like the way the dragon was watching him; he felt vulnerable, almost like he was being analyzed. Inferno could definitely tell this wasn't a normal dragon as he approached. The dragon had black scales, very dark purple under-scales, blue webs and wings, and bluish-green luminescent scales. Along with the strange colors, his physical characteristics didn't seem to be dominant of one type. The dragon seemed to stiffen as Inferno stopped in front of him. "Hello," Inferno said awkwardly.

"Hi…. Can I help you?" the dragon responded. His voice was calm, but his body was tense. This dragon was ready to run or fight.

"Um. Well, my group wanted me to invite you to come sit with us," Inferno said.

"Ok… Why?" the dragon asked.

Inferno sat down and started uncomfortably looking around. "Well, you just look lonely over here and we figured we'd offer you some company."

"And if I don't want it?" the dragon pushed.

"It's up to you. Just figured we'd offer," Inferno said. The dragon hadn't took his eyes of Inferno since he arrived. "Look I'm not going to hurt you. Can you please stop looking at me like that?"

"Where's your group?" the dragon asked. He looked in the general direction that Inferno arrived from. Dragons had started to leave the area as mid-day turned more into the afternoon, so there weren't many to choose from. "Is it the group of dragons over there?" the dragon pointed. "The Sandwing, Nightwing, and….."

"Seawing," Inferno answered. "And yes. How did you know?"

"Two of them where looking intently over here until I made eye contact," the dragon answered.

"Well, would you like to join us or should I leave you alone?" Inferno questioned. The dragon looked at him a bit longer and then the group.

"Worst case scenario is I leave if I feel uncomfortable," the dragon responded. "Lead the way." Inferno got up and started over to the group with the dragon following. Before they fully got over there. Tide looked at the dragon, gasped, and ran to him. The dragon looked alarm and tensed back up. He held his talons out. "Hey! Stay back!"

"Oh my! It's been so long! I can't believe I'm seeing you again!" Tide said as she stopped right in from of him.

"Uh. Do I know you?" the dragon said awkwardly as he lowered his talons.

"Come on don't be silly!" Tide exclaimed. "You remember me don't you?"

"I think you have me mistaken for someone else," the dragon responded.

"We used to play in around the Seawing's Palace all the time! Remember?" Tide said while she smiled at him. The other dragons just looked confused. Then the dragon smiled.

"Ah. Yes. I do remember you. You're Squidbrain, right? It's definitely been a while. Still getting lost in seaweed?" the dragon said with a chuckle.

Tide laughed. "Alright. Fine. We weren't friends. Sorry, I just like messing with dragons."

"That explains a lot," Inferno muttered.

"Anyways, what gave it away?" Tide wondered.

"A few things. One. I never set talon in the Seawing Palace. Two. I never really interacted with another Seawing. Three. No offense, but you don't look like a normal Seawing. Too many frills, tail is too skinny almost like a Rainwing's, physique looks off, and no gills," the dragon explained. Tide started to look uncomfortable. No one had ever analyzed her and placed her that fast. He didn't say "Hybrid", but he practically did. She also noticed the dragon kept looking at her daggers. Was he planning an attack?

"Wow! Tide, is that true?" Amethyst asked excitedly.

"Yes," Tide said. "I'm a Rainwing/Seawing hybrid. My mother was a Seawing and my father was a Rainwing."

"Amazing!" Amethyst said in awe. She looked back at the dragon. "What can you tell about me?"

The dragon laughed. "I'm not a psychic."

"Oh." Amethyst sounded slightly disappointed. "Well anyways, welcome to our group!" Amethyst bowed. She then started pointing to each dragon while giving their name. "This is Sandstone, that's Inferno, I believe you have already met, that's Tide, and I'm Amethyst. What's your name?"

"Nice to meet you all," the dragon responded. "I'm Abyss."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 ** _Abyss_**

"Abyss? Ooooo. That's a mysterious name! Pretty cool!" Amethyst said.

"Yeah. Or dark and creepy," Sandstone retorted.

Abyss gave him a strange look and thought, _What's this dragon's problem?_

"Don't mind him," Tide said as she sat down next to him and grabbed a pineapple. "He's a grump." She sliced it and started eating it. "Fruit?"

"No thank you. I wouldn't want to impose. I should probably go get my food," Abyss looked back at his measly stash of fruit.

"No. It's fine." Amethyst said. "I don't mind. It needs to be eaten. Waste not want not."

 _I'm not sure about this. These dragons seem ok, but so did all the others. What are they planning?_ Abyss wondered. _Well, I guess eating fruit won't hurt. It doesn't seem any of it is separated and if there is something off, I will know._ "Alright. I guess a few won't hurt anything." Abyss grabbed a banana, peeled it, and started to eat.

"So, where are you from Abyss?" Inferno asked.

"Anywhere and everywhere. I move about," he answered.

"That must be fun," Inferno said with a smile.

"Less than you might think," Abyss muttered before speaking up and asking, "What are you dragons doing? Why the big group?"

"We are going on an adventure! We're traveling around Pyrrhia to see all it has to offer," Amethyst said excitedly. "I've already seen the Sandwing Kingdom. Now THAT'S a hot place!"

"Probably full of hot heads, too," Abyss heard Tide whisper to Inferno. Inferno snorted and then coughed when Sandstone looked at him to try to cover it up.

"And why the big group?" Abyss asked again.

"Why not? Meet new dragons. Make friends. The more the merrier! You can never have enough friends! Plus it's more fun to travel in a group," Amethyst explained. "There are so many interesting dragons each with their own stories."

Sandstone looked at Abyss. "She defines anything as an interesting story. If you see a butterfly, it's interesting to her. Even better is a bee!" He did a small chuckle.

"That's not entirely true!" Amethyst said. "You saw that swarm of butterflies. You SAW it. Tell me, have you EVER seen anything like that before?" Sandstone grunted. "I thought so," Amethyst said in satisfaction.

Abyss reached down to get some more fruit when he saw a fish covered in a red sauce. _I haven't eaten fish in so long! I should take at least a nimble._ Abyss thought. _No. Eating and hurting living things is something I don't want to do. But then again…. It's already dead, so it would go to waste and would've been killed for no reason if no one eats it._ Abyss thought for a moment longer and then reached for the fish. Tide saw him grab it.

"Uh, Abyss. Trust me, you don't want that. It tastes awful. The sauce doesn't go with the fish," Tide warned.

"That's simple enough to fix," Abyss said as he sliced off the part she bite off of. He then removed the skin from the fish and the sauce with it before taking a bite. _I haven't had Salmon in so long! I almost forgot what it tasted like… Almost._

"So Tide, you eat fruit and fish due to her heritage, right?" Amethyst asked.

Tide shrugged. "I guess. Good food is good food and that's really all I have to say."

"What about you Abyss?" Amethyst continued.

"Uh. Well. I'm kind-of a vegetarian," Abyss answered.

"You are eating a fish," Inferno said with a confused look.

"That's where the 'kind-of' part pops up. I don't want to hurt or kill animals, but I don't want them to go to waste. The only one I have a hard time not hunting is seafood," Abyss explained.

Sandstone snorted. "You would die in the desert."

"Alright, so why don't you want to eat meat," Amethyst pushed on.

"No real reason," Abyss evasively stated as he finished the fish.

"Well, if everyone is done eating, I think it's time to head back out," Tide said as she stretched.

"Good. The faster we get out of this mud hole the better," Sandstone stood up as well, followed by both Amethyst and Inferno.

Abyss got up. "Well, have fun on your adventure. I recommend running the coastline. Good meeting you all," Abyss turned and started heading back for his spot. _That's a first. Those dragons invited me and weren't trying to trick me._ Abyss thought.

"Hey wait!" Abyss turned around to the group. Most the group was in the air a couple of yards away except Tide, who was still on the ground. "Amethyst was wanting to know if you would like to come with us."

Abyss looked at the ground and started to think. _Aha! This is the trap! They get me out of town and team up on me!_ The thought flashed through his mind immediately, but then he thought some more. _But what if it's not. What if this is an actual invitation? What if they want me to join? No. Don't be ridiculous. It's a trap like always. No dragons have tried to be my friend without trying to kill me._ He looked at Tide again who had a warm smile on her snout. _Her smile seems so sincere though. Maybe…._

"Look. You obviously don't feel comfortable with this," Tide said. "It's no big deal. We understand sometimes one just wants to be alone. Sorry. Just forget about the offer." She turned around to join the group.

"Wait. No, I'll go," Abyss responded as Tide took to the air.

"Are you sure? It took you a while to answer," Tide said skeptically.

"No. It's fine. I just…. spaced out," Abyss reassured her. "Never been invited to a group before." _Who doesn't have an alternate motive._ Abyss added internally. _And I still might not have been._

"Oh. Great! Come on then." Tide gestured for him to follow.

"So happy you decided to join us Abyss!" Amethyst said happily almost as soon as they joined. "This is going to be thrilling." For some reason, Tide tensed up and shook like someone had just threw her into the snow at the sound of the word "thrilling".

"Yeah. Great. Another one," Sandstone said with a sigh.

"You said to follow the shore right?" Inferno asked.

"Yeah," Abyss responded. "The ocean is beautiful. Especially at sunset."

"Sounds great!" Amethyst exclaimed. "Is everyone ok with that?"

"I love the ocean, so fine by me!"

"It's your trip."

"Anywhere but this bog wasteland."

Amethyst smiled. "Awesome. Then it's decided. We'll follow the shoreline and travel inland to explore. That sunset better be killer Abyss!"

"It will be," Abyss responded with a small smile. "So where are we heading?"

"To the Kingdom of the Sky! I hear the mountains are gorgeous and that you can see for miles on them!" Amethyst said excitedly.

Abyss's heart sank. _Oh no. Not there again. I'm probably still wanted and will be killed by Queen Scarlet!_ Abyss looked at Inferno. _I actually thought the Skywing was coming over to capture me at first. He still might be, actually. I wonder if there's a bounty on me._ Abyss gulped at the thought. "Uh. I'm not sure if that's the best idea," he said nervously as the group started to head out.

"Why not?" Amethyst asked in surprise. Everyone turned back around.

Sandstone sighed and muttered, "Great. Another complainer."

"I don't really trust Skywings. They are ruthless and cruel and not to be trusted," Abyss said and then awkwardly added. "No offense Inferno. I'm sure you're different."

"Saying 'No offense' doesn't stop me from being offended," Inferno said as he frowned.

"That's ridiculous. I've known Inferno for years– I mean weeks. Weeks," Tide said beforing laughing nervously. "What do you have against Skywings?"

Abyss sat there for a second. "I just – I just don't trust them. I'd just rather be safe than sorry." Tide didn't seem to like this answer. _She knows I'm hiding something._ Abyss fretted.

"Uuuhh. Alright. Well, if it makes you feel better, we won't stop in any towns," Amethyst offered.

"Yeah. That'll help. I guess," Abyss muttered. _I shouldn't have said anything._

"No towns. Fly by shore. Are you sure this is your trip Amethyst?" Sandstone questioned. Abyss looked a little more uncomfortable after this remark.

"Hush Sandstone!" Amethyst said with a little temper to her voice. She turned back towards the others. "Well, let's go! We are burning daylight!"

They started towards the Mudwing shoreline. Amethyst lead the group and Abyss hung more towards the back where he started to think about everyone. _Inferno and Tide are whispering. Probably something about what I said. Tide seems outgoing. She's also smart and armed. I don't trust her with those daggers. Inferno seems nice. Seems to stick close to Tide; he hasn't left her side since he led me to the group. Does he like her or is he just protective? Or am I overthinking this? Sandstone definitely doesn't like me, but does he like anyone? Doesn't seem so at this moment. Just seems like a grouchy Sandwing. Heh. Must run the Sandwing heritage. Amethyst doesn't seem to mind me. She's nice, but she is WAY too bubbly. She's overly excited about everything and is way too hyper. Might get annoying after a while._ Abyss sighed. _This feels like traveling alone again. No one but me and my thoughts. Maybe I should socialize. Even if this is a trap, it's nice to be with other dragons. If they try to hurt me, my power will warn me._

Abyss flew up to Inferno and Tide. They grew quiet as he approached.

"Oh look. If it isn't the Skywing hater. Come to talk about how we eat our young too?" Inferno asked with a hint of anger in his tone.

"Inferno!" Tide exclaimed. "Come on now. You are overacting."

Inferno turned to her. "No I'm not! He bad-mouthed my tribe and by extension my home and my family! You would be responding the same way or worse if he trashed the Seawings!" Inferno returned in a heated voice. Tide went quiet. "I thought so." He looked back at Abyss. "I really don't feel like talking to you, so why don't you leave and insult someone else?"

Tide looked at Abyss. "I'm sorry. I recommend going elsewhere until he cools down."

Now Abyss felt horrible. He flew a little further up towards Sandstone. "Hey," Abyss said. Sandstone didn't respond. "Hey!" he said a little louder. Sandstone let out a sigh.

"What do you want?" Sandstone asked.

"I was just wanting to chat," Abyss said hopefully.

"And what makes you think I want to?" Sandstone responded coldly. Abyss said nothing.

He returned to the back of the pack. _This is miserable. I'm already getting shunned and hated. Maybe I should just give up on finding a friend group. Never seems to work out._ Abyss did a sad sigh. _I wish father was here…._ He shook his head. _No. Don't think about that…. I could always go talk to Amethyst… No. I think she might kill me with energy. I'll just… quietly fly back here for now._

The dragons had started up the coastline towards the Sky Kingdom as the sun started to set.

Amethyst stopped in mid-air causing the others to halt behind her. "It's getting dark," she said. "I think we should find a place to camp out for tonight. I say we build a spot right there." She pointed towards a spot out of the mud, but still near the coast. "Let's find some food and wood so we can eat and have a fire."

"Yeah. Not all of us have night vision, so I agree with stopping," Inferno reasoned. They split up the look for supplies. Abyss swooped towards the ground and started to search for berries for himself. After obtaining some, he grabbed a little bit of wood before heading to the meeting spot. He was the last one to show up.

"Ah. There you are. We were wondering what was taking you," Tide said. She looked at the measly amount of berries he had. "Is that all you're going to eat?"

"Probably." Abyss shrugged. "Not that hungry."

"Well, we mainly just got meat. Not much fruit around here, so I hope that's enough unless you are going to break your 'vegetarian policy' again." Tide laughed.

Abyss sat down by Amethyst who he felt would be the least hostile to him. "Now that we are all here, I think we should learn more about each other. How about we start with names and hobbies or something?" Amethyst suggested.

"We already know each other's names," Sandstone said. "Why would we do that?"

"No silly! I mean history or origin of the name! To show you what I mean, I'll go first." Amethyst cleared her throat. "I got my name from the color of my scales. The dark purple reminded my mother of amethyst. Also, she did it since she thinks I'm her precious gem." Amethyst blushed at the last part. "I love exploring, reading, and making friends."

Sandstone opened his mouth and pointed inside with his talon while making a gagging noise.

"Sandstone!" Tide frowned at him.

"Sorry, but sweetness overload," Sandstone replied.

"What about yours Tide? I've been curious since you told me it." Amethyst continued, ignoring Sandstone.

"Well, since you know I'm part Rainwing now there's no sense in hiding it," Tide said as she stood up. She spread her wings and started flashing her luminescent scales all kinds of different vibrant colors.

"Wow, Tide. That's amazing! So many different colors!" Amethyst said in awe.

 _Lucky her. She can hide her oddity._ Abyss thought. _It is beautiful, though. All the colors are overwhelming._

Tide stopped and sat back down. "I like swimming, exploring, and uuuhhh… I guess that's it."

"Eating. Eating is the third one," Inferno answered. Tide smiled and slightly shoved him.

"Hush," Tide said. "My mother named me 'Tide' since my scales were constantly changing while I was younger. It's in reference to how the tide is always changing, never staying the same."

"That's so cool!" Amethyst exclaimed. "What about you Inferno?"

"My mother named me 'Inferno' since I was very destructive as a young dragonet. I would burn everything I could, and watched the object slowly change into ash. So my hobby was burning things, but I don't really have any now."

"Alright. Abyss?" Amethyst nodded towards him.

"I don't really have any hobbies. Well, exploring I guess. I'm not sure why my father chose the name he did. Never asked. Never can now," Abyss answered. He said that last part quietly as his voice picked up a hint of sadness, but he didn't hide it well enough.

"Oh. Did he leave you?" Amethyst asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah. Something like that," Abyss answered in a slightly more depressed voice.

"Well, maybe we'll see him or something," Amethyst tried to sooth. "What was his name?"

"Kelp," Abyss shook his head. _She doesn't get what I mean, but I really don't want to say it. They don't need to know anyways._

"Probably blames the Skywings for that too," Inferno said in a whisper to Tide. It was slightly loud in the silence, so the entire group heard it. Abyss flinched and Tide punched Inferno's arm in response.

"Shut up Inferno," Tide quietly growled back as Inferno started rubbing where she hit him.

"Well, you're the last one Sandstone," Amethyst quickly said in an attempt to change topic. "Share like everyone else did."

"I'm not sure what you're expecting. I was named Sandstone for reasons. I never asked because I don't care. I like fighting. End of story. Nothing special," Sandstone said.

"Oh. Well, uh… that's nice," Amethyst said awkwardly before she looked at the sky and studied the bright, shining moons. "Looks like it's getting late. Probably best to get some rest. More flying tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me," Sandstone said as he lied down. "Just wake me when it's morning."

"Yeah. It's been a long day." Tide stretched and walked to the ocean where she got a mouthful of water and spit it on the fire. "Sorry Inferno but we're not going to let a fire burn through the night while we sleep. Might wake up in a fire."

"Fair enough." He moved a little more in land. "But that breeze is a little too cold for my liking."

Tide shrugged. "Whatever." She walked around for a little then lied down.

Abyss stood up and walked over to a nice spot where he lied down as well. After getting comfortable, he looked at Amethyst who hadn't moved. "Hey Amethyst. You going to get some rest?"

"Probably. Nightwings usually stay up at night, but that hasn't always been the case with me." Amethyst sat there for a little before adding, "I'm just thinking at the moment."

Abyss lied his head down. _What a day._ Abyss thought. _Adventured to a town, joined a group, probably made an enemy. Very eventful and exhausting. I still don't really trust these dragons. Sandstone is rude and grouchy. Just ticked off Inferno. Strangely, he seems protective over Tide. I can see him sneak a peek at her even now to make sure she is ok. I still wonder if that's protectiveness or a crush. I don't like armed dragons, so I'm not sure about Tide. Amethyst is way too energetic. I don't see any reason to distrust her, but she's just always too excited._ Abyss closed his eyes as he sighed internally. _Let's see what tomorrow brings._ Then he opened them slightly. _Actually,_ _I think I'll wait until Tide is asleep first._

 **Author's Note:**

 **The three deaths I hinted at in my summary before eliminating it happens in a later Chapter. I removed that part of the summary since there is techniclly deaths in Chapter 2, which I had forgot about.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _ **Tide**_

The cloaked Sandwing looked into a pot. Inside is an orange liquid which she periodically adds a talon full of a powder to.

"Just a little more," she muttered. She dropped the last talonful in and a large puff of orange smoke came out of the pot. As the liquid smoked, it slowly turned from orange to clear. She smiled. "Just one last ingredient." The dragon walked over to a small tube with a wispy substance in it. She picked it up as a dragon flew in. She put down the vial as she turned towards the dragon. "Venom, was it successful?"

"No." Venom replied. "He left with bodyguards so I called off the ambush. The other three are following them. I think he suspects us. Should we wait until he separates from his guards?"

"No. He suspects nothing. Even if he did, that" the Sandwing pointed to the pot. "has a limited life span on it. Loses its potency after about a week. We need him immediately. Attack the group and bring him to me."

"What should we do with the other dragons?" Venom asked.

"Kill them. I have no need for them," the Sandwing responded.

"As you wish." Venom bowed then flew out of the room.

The cloaked Sandwing grabbed the vial and walked over to the pot. "Everything is going as planned," she said as she poured in the substance. "After waiting centuries, soon you will have everything that is rightfully yours. Just a little more time."

* * *

There was a piercing scream that cut through the night air. A dragon heard it and rushed towards it. _That came from the town,_ it thought. As it flew quickly through the trees, the dragon could hear the screams getting louder and louder, but each time it sounded like a different dragon. The dragon landed in the town where bodies littered the street and the stretch of death was heavy in the air as the dragon walked up to one of the corpses. There were slash wounds all over her body. _What kind of monster could've done this?_ the dragon thought as it looked at the body lined streets. There were dragons of almost all tribes here– Skywings, Sandwing, Seawings, Icewings, and Mudwings. _None of these dragons deserve a fate like this._ The dragon knew these victims. They were war veterans and Talons of Peace members. _All these dragons ever wanted was peace. Some found fit to fight for their Tribe and others thought peace would be obtained through other methods. None of them wanted this war._ The dragon continued to explore the town looking for survivors, but to no avail. Then it heard a scream from out of town causing the dragon to rush out of the town and into the woods. _Maybe I can save this one!_ The dragon was getting closer to the screams.

"Leave me alone! No, no. Please no!"

The dragon burst through the bushes and into a clearing. The dragon saw a body of a Seawing lying on the ground. The dragon rushed over to him, but was too late to do anything. He was dead. The dragon saw that the wounds were just like the others in town. _How many innocent dragons must die?_

"Have you come to join the fun?" a female dragon's voice said. The voice rang through the night. The dragon looked around the clearing. No one was there.

"Show yourself Monster!" the dragon yelled with a slight quiver in its voice.

"But that ruins the suspense," the voice said from behind the dragon. It turn around, but again saw nothing. "And I love the suspense." The dragon's fear was starting to rise as it started to back away. "I can see the fear in your eyes. You want to run. Please do. I ever do enjoy the chase before the kill." There was then a cruel laughter.

"I'm not afraid of you! You don't scare me!" the dragon yelled with its voice shaking as he spun around, looking for anything.

"Aaaww. How brave. It's a shame you aren't afraid of me," the voice said as the dragon back towards a bush. "You should be," the voice whispered in the dragon's ear. The dragon heard this directly behind him and quickly turned around to a glowing red bush. Immediately after, the Monster lunged at the dragon from the bush. The Monster was a black figure with two daggers and a bright red glow. The dragon shrieked and stumbled backwards, falling on its back; the Monster was immediately on the dragon and sliced the dragon's throat with its daggers.

Tide woke with a start. She was breathing heavily. _It was just a dream._ She thought. _Just a dream._ She took a couple more deep breaths and then sighed before looking at the others. _Sandstone, Inferno, Abyss, and Amethyst still look like they are asleep._ Tide stood up and stretched. She walked through the wood line and over to the ocean where she waded into the calm water. She looked out to sea as she let the waves calm her. After a little bit, she thought, _I wonder how things are going back home. I hope mother's ok._ Tide felt a small twinge of guilt. She really should see her mother, but she was afraid of what her mother would see in her. Tide heard a bush move behind her. She quickly turned around and saw Inferno walking to her.

"You startled me," Tide said as he approached.

"Sorry. Didn't think you would be jumpy out here," Inferno said as he walked to the edge of the water. He wasn't very fond of getting wet.

"I thought you were asleep," Tide said as she turned back around and looked back out to sea.

"I was just lying there. I didn't sleep well last night. Being out in the open felt strange," Inferno said.

"More like vulnerable," Tide said. "It felt too exposed to me."

Inferno sighed. "Tide, we don't have any enemies out here. You should relax a little."

Tide did a disbelieving snort. "Really Inferno? With the business we are in, you think we don't have enemies and that no one is watching?" She turned and splashed water at him, causing him to yip and jump back. "I think you're being naïve."

"And I think you are being paranoid and overacting," Inferno said back. Tide smiled and shook her head as she turned back towards the ocean. She could smell nothing but the sea. She took a deep breath. _Oh how I miss the open ocean,_ she thought.

"Speaking of overacting, why are you being so childish about Abyss not trusting Skywings? Seriously, you are acting like a one year old," Tide responded.

"I can't stand dragons that hate other tribes for no reason. Sure, no tribe is perfect, but you shouldn't judge all dragons for one's decision," Inferno said with a little bit of anger in his voice.

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe he hasn't had good experiences with Skwings? I'm pretty sure he's not telling us the truth with his father and he avoided mentioning his mother," Tide reasoned.

"You didn't mention your father," Inferno pointed out.

"That's because I didn't have one," Tide countered.

"I just don't understand. I doubt a Skywing had anything to do with his father leaving him. It makes no sense to hate an entire tribe for it. We aren't perfect, but we aren't evil!" Inferno exclaimed.

"Inferno. You have to face the fact that your tribe has had its claw in some terrible things. I'm not saying it's the tribe's fault, but Queen Scarlet tortured, manipulated, and killed countless dragons. From what I heard, she even enchanted her own daughter! That's not even mentioning the arena."

"What's wrong with the arena? It's a place of justice and redemption," Inferno said defensively.

Tide chuckled and turned back towards Inferno. "Are you serious? It's a place of death and torment. It's cruel. There is no justice there, just suffering."

Inferno's voice took more of a heated tone. "The arena is a place of honor and strength! It's where dragons can go and fight for redemption! You wouldn't understand Tide. You've never–" Inferno stopped. He just realized what he said. Tide had perked up when he said the arena was a place of "honor". Tide looked like she was about to punch Inferno.

"Honor?" Tide said in an eerily calm voice. "Is that what you call it?" Tide walked out of the water and started looking around for something to release some of her anger on. Inferno shrunk a little as she walked by him. Her voice started to become louder and more rage filled as she spoke. "Is that what you call killing a dragon who doesn't want to fight? Is that what you call fighting dragons to the death because they were born in a different tribe or because they disagreed with those two wicked Queens?!" Tide had picked up a branched and snapped it when she said "wicked Queens". "But since I've only been in the arena five times, I guess I know nothing about it!" She threw the two branch halves on the ground before quickly approached Inferno. Tide's voice was starting to quiver. "So please Inferno! Please tell me that I know nothing about the death and sorrow that arena has caused!" She was right in front of him now. "Please finish your sentence and educate me on how the arena I've never been in is! I want to hear it!" Inferno stood there, frozen in place. There was nothing but fear in his eyes. Tide saw this. _Is he actually afraid I'll kill him?_ Most of Tide's rage vanished with this thought. She turned and took a few steps away from Inferno. Her voice was mostly sad now, partially due to her regret for acting the way she did and partially because she was hurt that Inferno would defend something that caused her so much pain and anguish. "You know what I went through in there. You know what I had to do to survive and yet you defend it. Inferno, sometimes we have to let go of our pride in our tribe and look at how it affects others."

Inferno sighed. "I'm sorry Tide. I know what you went through and your right that I shouldn't be so close-minded. I shouldn't be so petty about others not trusting the Skywings. We haven't done very great things lately."

"As you said, no tribe is perfect," Tide said. She took a deep breath and they sat there in silence for a little. "Let's see if the others are up yet." Tide started back towards the camp.

"Probably are. We weren't exactly quiet," Inferno said as he followed her. Tide walked back to the camp site with Inferno following closely behind. When they got back to the clearing, Amethyst was trying to wake Sandstone and Abyss was missing. Tide started to walk over to Amethyst and Sandstone.

"Come on Sandstone! Wake up!" Amethyst saw Tide walking to her. "Oh. Hey Tide. Having a good morning?"

"Could be better," Tide responded while she shrugged. "Trying to wake him up?"

"Yes and it's impossible! I would think he's dead if he wasn't breathing," Amethyst said before shaking Sandstone. "Wake up for crying out loud!"

"Hhmm. I see you've tried asking nicely. Want me to try?" Tide offered.

"Have at it. I don't want to sit here all day," Amethyst responded. "Uh. You aren't going to stab him are you?"

"No, no. Of course not!" Tide said as she chuckled. "But there's a thought…"

"Please don't," Amethyst requested.

"I'm kidding." Tide smiled at her. Tide leaned down to Sandstone and grabbed his ear. She took a deep breath. "WAKE UP YOU USELESS EXCUSE OF A DRAGON!"

"Aaahhh!" Sandstone yelled and jumped. He covered his left ear. "Are you mad? What was that for?!"

"Next time, wake up," Tide said with a smile as Sandstone stared at her with a mixture of anger and dismay in his purple eyes.

"My ear is ringing. My ear better stop ringing Tide! If you made me deaf—"

"Oh please. Don't be so dramatic." Tide waved the idea off. "It'll be temporary."

Sandstone frown at her and wandered towards the wood line. "I'm going to catch food."

"Really? With only one working ear?" Tide said with a mocking tone. Sandstone ignored her. "There you go, Amethyst. Sandstone is up and about!"

"Thanks I guess?" Amethyst said looking a little worried. "You think his hearing will be fine."

"Trust me, he's fine. Next time if he doesn't get up, get some water and dump it on him. That should work too," Tide suggested.

"Why didn't you do that then?" Amethyst asked.

 _I wanted to mess with the big grouch,_ Tide thought. "Uh, just didn't really come to mind," Tide said while shrugging. Amethyst didn't look very convinced by this excuse. "Where's Abyss? Did he leave?"

"No. He's trying to find more berries," Amethyst said. After a small pause she asked, "What do you think of him?"

"Abyss? He seems nice and a little timid. Shy. It's strange though; if he is timid and shy, why would he come with us?" Tide wondered.

"Maybe you're wrong about him. Besides the being nice part," Amethyst added.

Tide nodded. "Maybe." _I don't think I'm wrong, but it's always a possibility,_ Tide thought.

"Ssooo. Do you think he's… cute?" Amethyst asked slowly. She was rotating two claws over each other.

"What?" Tide asked in shocked. "No! I mean I have nothing against him, but I haven't really thought that way about him."

"Ah. Alright," Amethyst responded. There was a small silence.

"Why do you want to know? Do you?" Tide asked back.

"No no no." She chuckled. "I was just curious that's all."

"Oh. Ok. Just small talk." Tide responded.

"Yeah." Amethyst chuckled again. "I was just… making conversation. That's all… I do think Inferno has a thing for you, however."

Tide sat there for a second before slowly asking, "Why do you think that?"

"Well, he's always sitting by you, talking with you, he's always near you honestly. I also noticed he usually always tries to keep an eye on you. I think that's the reason he wanted to pay for your food," Amethyst explained.

Tide blushed. _She doesn't know. That's not how he sees me… right? I'm like a sister to him, not a date,_ Tide thought. "Uh, I mean, I don't think that's it. I thinks he just likes hanging out with me is all."

"You blushed!" Amethyst giggled. "You've got a crush for him don't you? You've got someone crushing on you and you're crushing on him!" Amethyst sang.

"Ssshhh." Tide looked at Inferno in alarm. He wasn't paying much attention. He was looking at the remains of the fire. He had thrown some wood back over it and lit it. "Keep it down Amethyst. Please."

"Oh don't worry Tide," Amethyst whispered. "Your secret is safe with me." Amethyst giggled causing Tide to roll her eyes.

"I'm going to go try to find Abyss," Tide said. "We should eat quickly." Tide looked at the sun. "It's already mid-day."

"Alright. Sounds good," Amethyst said with a large grin on her face. Tide turned around and took flight. She sighed and shook her head. "Really Amethyst," she muttered. _Abyss probably wouldn't go too far from the campsite._ Tide was flying for a little before she heard a voice. She started flying towards it. She landed in a tree and saw Sandstone with a dead wild hog. He was snapping by his left ear.

"Lucky Seawing. I would've buried her in a bog if I lost my hearing. She needs to learn some manners," he loudly muttered. He looked up at the sun. "I should probably get back." He spread his wings and took flight.

 _Grouch,_ Tide thought as she took flight again and continued to fly through the forest. After a while, she started to hear a small commotion and flew towards it.

"Look. I don't want any trouble ok?"

She recognized the voice this time. _That is definitely Abyss. What's going on?_

"You should've thought of that before pouring that muck in our pond."

Tide landed on a tree branch where she saw Abyss talking with a Mudwing.

"You can't blame that on me. I didn't even know you lived by a pond, Earth. Anyways, it doesn't seem nearly as bad as what you tried to do to me. You wanted to kill me!" Abyss laughed nervously.

 _These two know each other and this mystery dragon tried to kill Abyss. This might not go too well,_ Tide thought. She started watching more intently to see if she needed to intervene.

"Do you realize what you did to us? No one at the town wanted to be near us. We were kicked out of shops because of you!" Earth growled.

"Now you know how I feel," Abyss simply said.

"We're going to make you pay," Earth hissed.

"Look, I don't want to fight. Besides we know how this went down last time. Do we really want to do this again?" Abyss stopped for a second. "Oh. I see you still haven't recovered from your bog experience. Sorry about that."

Earth roared and lunged at Abyss. Abyss ducked and dodged. Tide stood up and started to jump out of the tree when Earth turned around and Abyss clawed his snout. Abyss then leaped into the air and took flight.

Earth touched his snout and felt the blood. "You're not getting away again!" He started to pursue Abyss, and Tide chased after them as well. They were flying to the beach. Tide saw Abyss dive into the ocean while Earth landed on the edge of the water. "You can't stay down there forever you Hybrid scum!" he yelled.

Tide landed a few yards behind him. "Actually, I'm pretty sure he can. I think he has gills." Earth turned around. "Not very bright are you?"

"This doesn't concern you Seawing. I suggest you leave," Earth threatened.

"Or what? You'll hurt me? I'd like to see you try. Besides let's just say we have something in common." Tide shifted the colors of her scales.

"Ocean can't do that…" Earth muttered.

"Really? Wow, you're slow. I'm a hybrid," Tide said in annoyance. "Any beef you have with that dragon, you have with me."

"Oh. You think you're tough? This should be fun." Earth laughed. "Once I'm done with you, I'll bury Abyss too."

They square off. Tide went up on her two back legs while Earth stayed on four. Tide decided to keep her daggers holstered. _I'm going to have some fun with this dragon._ Earth started clawing at her, but Tide evaded the slices before punching Earth in the snout. He grabbed it and stumbled backwards before roaring and attacking again. Tide kept back stepping his attacks. When he lunged Tide went under him and pushed herself up into his underbelly. He flipped and landed on his back. "I hope you plan on doing better than that," Tide said. "This is pathetic."

Earth rolled back onto his feet. "Stay still!" he spat. He then threw sand at Tide. Tide spun causing the sand to hit the side of her head, barely missing her eyes. As she spun she kicked sand into Earth's face who had charged at Tide before side stepping Earth as he fell into the sand. He started rubbing his eyes.

Tide yawned. "Are we almost done here? I got things to do." The Mudwing got the sand out of his eyes and stood back up. He took a deep breath and started breathing fire at her, making Tide jumped back. Earth used this temporary obstruction of Tide's view to charge her, but Tide barely saw the swing. She grabbed Earth wrist, stopping the attack, and yank him towards her as she punched him in the chest at the same time. Earth gasped from the impact while Tide started hitting his snout. Blow after blow she staggered Earth back then she hit him in his throat and then his stomach. Earth fell back onto the ground, clutching his stomach. "Give up?" Tide asked as she moved his head so she was looking in his eyes.

"Never." Earth coughed. "Never to a disgraceful half-breed like you." He weakly sliced at her and fell back into the sand.

"Well, you got heart. I'll give you that," Tide said. She then muttered, "Even though it's misplaced." Tide walked behind Earth. She put one talon on the back of his neck. She then grabbed his wing and slowly started to twist it. Earth gasped in pain. "You feel that? That's the bone connecting your wing to your body coming out of socket… one" she twisted more "…twist…" she twisted a little more "at a time." she twisted a little more again causing Earth to scream in pain. "Here's what's going to happen, Earth. I'm going to let you keep your wing, but you are going to let me, Abyss, and any other hybrid you run across live in peace. If I hear of you breaking this deal, I will find you and things will be much, much worse. Next time there will be blood. I promise you."

"What… you'll… kill me?" Earth asked while gasping. "You don't…. have it in you."

"Oh, I don't now do I?" Tide let go of Earth's wing. He let out a breath of relief, but then Tide stepped hard on his shoulders, yanked his head up by his horns and put a dagger to his throat. "I don't have the guts you say?" Tide growled in his ear. "These daggers aren't for show. I've killed far less deserving dragons than you over the years. You really think one more will bother me?" She pressed the blade closer to his throat. "All I have to do is move my blade slightly. Your life is mine right now."

"O-Ok. Ok. Pl-Please. Just let me go," Earth said stuttering slightly as terror filled his voice.

"Now you see how dire this situation is. Good." Tide removed the dagger, but kept ahold of the dragon's horn. "Remember this day next time you try to mess with a dragon you think is weak or different. The mistake might prove to be… fatal next time," Earth gulped. Tide released him, and Earth immediately stood up and started running for the woods before taking flight. "And try to have a good day!" Tide yelled after him. She looked out over the ocean. _I guess now I'll wait for Abyss._ Tide walked back to the tree line and sat down. There wasn't much left of the day now. _The others must be worried sick by now. Or well, at least Inferno and Amethyst are._ Tide waited until she saw a head pop up out of the water. _That must be Abyss checking to see if it's safe or not._ Not too long later Abyss cautiously walked onto the beach. Tide waited a little then she walked out of the forest line. "Abyss!" Tide said excitedly. Abyss jumped and looked at Tide. He gave a sigh of relief once he realized who it was.

"Oh. Hey Tide," Abyss responded.

"We've been looking everywhere for you! Where did you go? You take a swim or something?" Tide questioned. _It's probably best that I play dumb,_ she thought.

"Oh. Uh. Yeah. Just a swim. Didn't realize it was so late. Wow time really flies when you're having fun!" Abyss laughed nervously.

"Yeah. Let's go back to the camp. I was sent out to find you a while ago. They are probably worried about the both of us," Tide said.

"Yeah. Probably," Abyss agreed before walking into the woods. Tide followed him. _How often does this happen to him?_ Tide wondered. Abyss was barely showing how troubled he was.

"Are you ok? You look like something's bothering you," Tide said as they walked.

"No. I'm just…" Abyss trailed off. "Distracted."

"Well, I know we just meet. Like literally just the other day, but if there is ever something you want or need to tell, feel free to. You can trust me." Tide tried to do a reassuring smile.

Abyss looked at her for a second. "Will do." There was a small pause as they walked in silence. "Do you think Inferno will ever forgive me?"

Tide was confused for a second. "Oh. About the tribe thing?"

"Yeah," Abyss responded. "I probably should've kept my mouth shut, but the Skywings and I haven't had the best history and that's putting it lightly."

"Oh really? What happened?" Tide questioned. _This might be my chance to find out the truth of why he doesn't like Skywings._

"I'd rather not talk about it," Abyss said while looking down. He then looked up. "We should almost be at the camp."

 _He's changing the subject._ Tide did an internal sigh. _Well, I tried_. They walked for a little longer before arriving at the camp. Sandstone was talking to Amethyst and Inferno was gone.

"I'm telling you Amethyst, they are in trouble! We need to go look for them!" Sandstone said.

"You're being ridiculous. I'm sure they are fine," Amethyst argued back. "Besides, Inferno left looking for them."

"Yes and he's been gone for a while too. I'm telling you they're in trouble!" Sandstone exclaimed.

"We're back," Tide said. Both Sandstone and Amethyst turned.

"See? They're fine," Amethyst said looking back at Sandstone.

"Where have you two been?" Sandstone demanded while walking up to them.

"I was looking for Abyss and found him at the beach. I didn't know he went swimming," Tide responded.

"If you didn't know he was swimming, why bother going to the beach?" Sandstone asked with an aggressive tone.

"What is this? An interrogation? What does it matter?" Tide defensively responded. She was slightly annoyed by Sandstone's tone. "I decided to explore by the coast and saw him."

Sandstone turned to Abyss. "And where are your berries?"

"I already ate them," Abyss said shocked. "Why are you being so aggressive? We didn't do anything wrong."

"I just want to understand why you two decided to waste the entire day goofing off. We hardly have any time to travel now!" Sandstone hissed in frustration.

"Why do you care? You don't care about this trip," Tide asked Sandstone in a hostile tone.

"I might not, but others might!" Sandstone loudly responded. He then hissed in frustration. "Let's just find Inferno so we can go."

"No need. I'm here," Inferno said as he landed. He smiled when he saw Tide. He then looked at Abyss with a smile, but Abyss avoided eye contact. "Happy to see you're both ok. Knew you were back once I heard yelling from a good bit away."

"Good. We're all here. Let's go," Sandstone said decisively.

"Amethyst is the leader here," Tide responded. "Are we going to travel today Amethyst?"

"Yeah. We'll go further. Any progress is better than no progress," Amethyst decided.

"Then let's go." Sandstone took to the sky.

"Concerned then angry then back to grump." Inferno did a short chuckle followed by a sigh. "Guess everything came full circle."

Tide smirked as the group took back towards the sky. Sandstone was with Amethyst and Inferno flew up beside Tide.

"What took you so long?" Inferno asked. "Sandstone and I were getting worried."

"I'm surprised about Sandstone being worried," Tide said. "I couldn't find Abyss and when I finally did, he was with another dragon – a Mudwing who he didn't have the best past with. The Mudwing had tried to kill Abyss for being a hybrid."

"What happened?" Inferno asked. "Did you—"

"No I didn't kill him," Tide interrupted slightly annoyed. "He attacked Abyss. Abyss defended himself and fled to the ocean. I followed and confronted the Mudwing. Scared him pretty good. Hopefully, he won't mess with Abyss anymore."

"Oh… You think he may have been bullied by a Skywing before?" Inferno asked with an edge of guilt in his voice.

"Possibly," Tide bluntly said. "That might explain why he doesn't trust them." Tide turned around and looked at Abyss, who was still staying away from the group, before turning back to Inferno. "You really need to go apologize to him. He feels awful."

Inferno looked at him too. "Yeah… He hasn't looked me in the eye since. I kind of feel terrible too," Inferno admitted. "I don't know his past and I don't know his reasons."

"Go tell him then. Just don't mention the Mudwing thing," Tide requested. "He doesn't know I intervened or saw them together." Inferno nodded and slowed down his flight speed. He stopped beside Abyss and started talking to him. _Good._ Tide thought. _That might help Abyss a little. He needs friends not enemies._ They flew for a little while until Tide started to recognize the area. She sped up to Amethyst and Sandstone.

"We are being followed. I can feel it Amethyst," Sandstone said.

"Yeah. I think so, too," Amethyst said with a worried face. "Those three dragons have been following us all day." Amethyst laughed. _Followed?_ Tide thought. _Could it be the Mudwing?_ Tide slowed down and stayed behind them. She was curious about this conversation.

"I'm serious," Sandstone said. "Ever since we left that Mudwing town, Bugwater–"

"Bogwater," Amethyst corrected.

"Whatever!" Sandstone said. "I've felt like we've been followed."

"I think you are being ridiculous again." Amethyst chuckled. "Remember when you thought Tide and Abyss were in trouble?" Sandstone was quiet for a bit.

"I'm telling you. Something isn't right," Sandstone finished with an annoyed tone.

 _This is the end of the conversation,_ Tide thought. _I've been feeling the same way…. Well, if you are always paranoid, you have to be right eventually._ She caught up to them. "Hey. I recognize this place. Can we land?"

"Uh. Sure Tide." Amethyst said. "How do you recognize here?"

"I think this is where I grew up," Tide answered.

"I didn't think you were part Mudwing too," Sandstone remarked.

"I'm not," Tide responded. "I'll explain if I'm right." Amethyst started to fly towards the ground with the others in pursuit. They landed and Tide started walking towards the shore. _This is the place,_ Tide realized. _I haven't been here in years!_

"Is the right place Tide?" Sandstone asked. "If so, why are we stopping here?"

"This is where I was hatched," Tide said as she explore her memories. She remembered playing on this beach. She remembered her mother coming to visit, the fun they had together... Everything was so care-free back then. Tide internally sighed. _I miss those days,_ she thought. "I grew up here for about a year before my mother took me to an island that was closer to the Summer Palace."

"So let me get this right. You are a Seawing/Rainwing hybrid who grew up in Mudwing territory?" Sandstone asked. "This is getting ridiculous."

"I think it's cool!" Amethyst said.

"My mother thought it would be really strange if she returned home with an egg," Tide explained. "So she left me here in between the Rainwing Kingdom and Seawing Kingdom once she realized this. She knew the warm waters of the Mudwing Kingdom would be perfect for me. She still checked up on me as much as she could."

"Well, it's getting dark. I vote we stay here for the night," Amethyst said.

"I'll try to find some dry wood." Sandstone sighed. "Can't wait until we are out of here," he muttered as he walked away.

"Staying here is fine by me," Abyss said. "I think Inferno already figured out what we are doing. He said something about getting food."

"Cool. I'll help Sandstone look for some fire wood then," Amethyst said as she left in the same direction that Sandstone did.

"Abyss, there is a spot where I used to pick berries. Want me to show you where it's at?" Tide offered.

Abyss smiled. "Lead the way," he responded.

Tide started walking away from the ocean, and Abyss walked beside her.

"Thanks," Abyss said.

"For the berries? It's not a big deal," Tide replied.

"Not that. I know you told Inferno to apologize to me," Abyss informed her.

"He wanted to. He felt bad about his actions. He was just unsure," Tide explained. "He's actually really nice. He just has a lot of pride in his tribe."

"Wish I could say the same," Abyss said slightly amused.

Tide stopped and pointed at a bush. "There's the berries over there." Abyss walked over to them and started picking a few. "What do you mean about not having any tribe pride? I mean, the Seawings aren't flawless, but I'm still proud of my tribe."

Abyss stopped for a second. "What tribe would want me?"

Tide was surprised with this answer. "What do you mean? Your look shouldn't matter." There was a small thing of silence. "You're a hybrid right? What tribes are you from?"

"My father was a Seawing and mother was a Nightwing," Abyss answered. "But it's more complicated than that."

"Well, what is it?" Tide asked. There was more silence. "Come on Abyss. What do I need to do to make see that you can trust me? You said something about it. You obviously want it off your chest."

"I just…. I just don't know. I don't like talking about my past," Abyss answered with sorrow creeping into his voice. "I hate almost everything about it. Nothing has gone right and I've only been hurt. Everyone I ever cared about is gone."

"Nobody's life is perfect. We all have pain. You just have to focus on the good," Tide said trying to be helpful.

Abyss just shook his head. "You just don't understand." Abyss cleared his throat and tried to return to his normal voice. "I got my berries. You can have any that are left. I'm going back to the camp," Abyss said as he started to leave. Tide hesitated before following. They were silent as they returned to the camp and were the last ones back.

Amethyst saw them. "Ah. Now that everyone is here, let's resume our game." The dragons looked at her with confused faces. "The one where we pick a topic to talk about."

"Oh greeaaat," Sandstone said sarcastically.

"I know right!" Amethyst exclaimed happily. "I think it's so cool to hear these stories. Alright. Abyss. You go tonight."

"So what? I just ask any question?" Abyss asked Amethyst.

"Yep! Well, I guess not ANY. Let's try to not ask strange questions like 'Has anyone snorted a fish before?' or possibly embarrassing questions like 'Who's your crush?'" Amethyst told him.

"Alright. Hhhhmm." Abyss thought for a second. "Why did everyone join?"

"Not bad, but I'm worried you might get similar responses," Amethyst said. "You want to stick with that?"

"Yep," Abyss answered.

"Alright. Well, I didn't join. I started this journey. I wanted to see the world outside of the rainforest. I mean, the rainforest is beautiful, but it's all I've ever known. I wanted to widen my perspective," Amethyst answered.

"Wait, weren't Nightwings on a volcanic island? Weren't you there most your life?" Tide asked in confusion.

Amethyst shook a claw at Tide. "No no Tide. That's not the question." She laughed a little. "Since you said something though, you're next."

"Ok, but Inferno and I have the same reason so is it fine that I speak for the both of us?" Tide asked Amethyst who looked at Abyss.

Abyss realized why Amethyst was looking at him. This was a question she wanted him to answer. "Oh! Yeah. That's fine," he said.

"Alright. Well, Inferno and I had already decided to explore Pyrrhia. I was visiting the Skywing Kingdom from my home when we meet. We had decided to explore near the Sandwing border when we ran into Amethyst and Sandstone. After that, we decided to explore together," Tide finished. She looked quickly at Inferno who looked confused. _Just go with it dunderhead,_ Tide thought.

"Speaking of Sandstone, why don't you share now?" Amethyst requested.

"Fine. I was hanging around a Sandwing town when a chatty, noisy Nightwing arrived. She, for some reason, decided to keep bugging me and inviting me to a trip. I came along because I knew she wouldn't leave me alone," Sandstone explained.

"Amethyst, how did that really go down?" Inferno asked.

"No that's basically it." Amethyst giggled. "He looked big and strong and, most importantly, I was feeling lonely. If he said, 'no' enough I probably would've tried someone else."

"Viper fangs! Knew sixth time would've been the charm," Sandstone muttered. Amethyst laughed.

"Alright, your turn Abyss," Amethyst said. "Why did you join?"

"Wait, I have to answer too?" Abyss asked.

"Of course! It's only fair. Besides I bet it's thrilling," Amethyst responded. Tide shivered causing Abyss to give her a weird look.

"Alright. Well, I just thought it would be fun," Abyss answered. There was a small thing of silence. "Uh. That's all."

"No other reason?" Tide asked.

Abyss shrugged. "Just why not? I know it's not very interesting, but that's it."

Tide wasn't sure if she believed this. _I think he's trying to expand his comfort zone. He's anti-social and is trying to be social… Is that what happened with the last dragons? He chose whom to be with poorly?_

"Not going to lie, that was pretty…. anticlimactic," Amethyst said.

"I don't know. I liked it. Simple and short," Sandstone said.

"Well, let's get some rest and not get lost in the morning so we can make some progress," Amethyst said. Everyone lied down and started to go to sleep. Tide waited for everyone to fall asleep before getting up. She walked through some trees and over to the shore where she sat to watch the moonlight shimmer off the ocean's waves. _This place is just how I remember. So calm and peaceful. I would sit right here all morning and wait for mother, and she'd come with fish and calms. We'd then talk and swim together. Everything was so much simpler._ She sat in silence as she reminisced.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

Tide jumped and whipped around with her talons on her daggers.

"Woah woah! Calm down Tide." Amethyst was standing there with her talons out. "Didn't think I'd scare you that bad."

 _Oh. It's just Amethyst,_ Tide thought. She let out a breath of air. "I thought you were asleep."

"I was trying to, but I'm a Nightwing so that's not usually the easiest task," Amethyst said. She looked at the moons. Two bright full moons were in the sky. "I love the night sky. It's amazing."

Tide looked at it. "Yeah. It's a very pretty night."

"That's not why you were up though is it?" Amethyst asked.

"No," Tide admitted. "I was just reminiscing."

"You miss your home?" Amethyst inquired.

"Yeah. More than anything," Tide said. _I'll be brave enough to return one day,_ Tide thought. _I'll go to my island and see mother…. Oh. What is she going to think of me? I left her as an innocent dragon. I come back a killer._ They both sat in silence for a while.

"Well, I'll leave you to think," Amethyst said. "I'm going to lie back down."

"No. I should go to bed, too. Long day tomorrow." Tide followed Amethyst back. She lied down and closed her eyes. _Hey brain! No nightmares tonight alright?_


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _ **Abyss**_

Earth landed at his camp where the Seawing and Mudwing he's been traveling with were waiting. The Seawing looked at Earth as he landed.

"What took you? And where's your food?" the Seawing asked. "Don't tell me you forgot how to hunt."

"Wouldn't surprise me if he did," the Mudwing remarked. "He was never very bright."

"Shut up, Muck!" Earth said hotly. "There was an issue. I ran into Abyss." This caught their attention.

"Where?" the Seawing demanded. "Where did you see him?"

"I know what you're thinking Ocean and we can't," Earth responded. "He has protection. A Seawing—"

"One Seawing. You think I'm afraid of one Seawing!?" Ocean exclaimed as he walked up to Earth. "Now listen hear you thick-headed flying lizard," he growled. "You are going to show me where you saw him and the three of us are going to get payback. If you don't, Muck and I will make sure you don't get to see dawn!"

Earth gulped. He took to the sky with Ocean and Muck following. They flew for a little until Earth landed where he first saw Abyss. "I first saw him here. He escaped and flew towards the beach."

They looked around for a little bit. "I don't think he came back," Muck said.

"Show us where you lost him," Ocean growled at Earth before the group flew off again to where Abyss dove into the ocean. The light of the day was almost gone when they arrived at the beach.

"He dove into the ocean and then that's when this other dragon showed up," Earth said.

Ocean looked at the beach. He could see three tracks leading away from the water. One went away from the other two. "We have a lead," Ocean smiled.

"Ocean, we can't mess with Abyss. That dragon will kill us!" Earth said frantically. "She's dangerous!"

Ocean laughed. "Really? You think one Seawing will be able to take all three of us down?" Ocean laughed more. "If you believe that you are dafter then I thought!"

"She's not an easy mark like the others! She can fight! That Seawing-Rainwing hybrid almost killed me and she said she would if we messed with her, Abyss, or any other hybrids!" Earth responded with fear ringing in his voice.

"So it was also a hybrid. You are disappointing," Ocean frowned. "I'll show you how tough this freak really is once we find her. For now, let's see where these tracks lead." Ocean started following the tracks off the beach with Muck and a reluctant Earth in pursuit. The tracks ended soon after the beach, but they saw a campsite not too far away. "They stayed here," Ocean said.

"What's the plan Ocean?" Muck asked. "Are we going hunting?"

"As much as I would love attacking under the cover of night, you two are somehow even more useless in the dark!" Ocean said in frustration. "We'll camp for the rest of tonight and then we look for them early in the morning." He looked directly at Earth. "You better not fail me again," he growled. "Abyss will NOT get away this time nor will his girlfriend."

Earth let out an annoyed sigh, and the three started planning where to search tomorrow.

* * *

Abyss woke up to the sound of whispering, he wasn't sleeping very deeply. Part of him still distrusted these dragons, so he mostly lied there with his eyes closed.

"Why are you just looking at him?" a voice said. _Sounds like Tide,_ he thought.

"He looks so peaceful. I don't want to disturb him," another voice answered. _Another female voice. Must be Amethyst._

"Either you wake him or I will," Tide told Amethyst.

"Tide don't yell in his ear!" Amethyst said back.

"I won't if he gets up," Tide responded.

"I just hate to do it," Amethyst answered. "He looks calm and relaxed. I always feel like he's on guard when traveling."

"Well, he's only known us for two days," Tide reasoned. There was some silence. "Look when Inferno and Sandstone get back with prey, he needs to be up. Sandstone was already mad that you're letting him sleep in, and we need to get a good start today. I'm going to get some more berries. He needs to be up before Sandstone gets back." Then Tide lowered her voice and made it sound threatening. "Or else."

"Ha! Or else what?" Amethyst asked.

Tide kept the same tone. "Or else Sandstone will give me a headache with all of his whining."

Amethyst laughed. "Go get the berries."

"Alright alright. Geez. You don't have to push!" Abyss heard the beat of wings fade off into the distance.

There was a long silence. _Well, I guess now is as good of a time as any to get up,_ Abyss thought. He opened his eyes to see Amethyst right by him. Abyss and Amethyst were both startled and jumped back.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. I just was about to wake you up," Amethyst said nervously. "Didn't expect you to wake right in front of me."

"It's fine," Abyss responded. "I just wasn't expecting that. I mean, it's surprising to wake up to a dragon in front of your face, ya know?"

"Heh. Yeah. I'd imagine." Amethyst nervously scratched behind her left horn as Abyss started to stretch. "So, uh. Did you… sleep well?"

"What?" Abyss asked mid-stretch.

"Did you sleep well?" Amethyst asked again.

"Oh. Uh, yeah," Abyss said as he finished stretching. "It wasn't too bad."

"That's good," Amethyst said.

"What about you? Did you sleep well?" Abyss asked Amethyst.

"If by 'well' you mean 'hardly at all' then yes," Amethyst answered.

"Oh. Sorry to hear that," Abyss responded.

"Yeah. It's hard for me. You know, being a Nightwing and all, so I have trouble sleeping at night." she looked at him. "You get what I'm talking about don't you?"

"Well, I'm assuming you are referring to me being a Nightwing, but I don't really. All my life I've slept at night," Abyss told her. "Still, I can easily stay up at night if I try."

"Did your mother stay up during the day, too?" Amethyst questioned.

"I wouldn't know," Abyss said. "She died before I was born."

Amethyst covered her mouth "Oh. I'm so sorry to have brought that up."

"It's fine. You didn't know," Abyss responded.

"Do you mind if I ask what happened?" Amethyst carefully requested.

Abyss didn't like talking about this, but he slightly felt like he wanted to with her. _She's not malicious. She's nice and maybe a little too energetic, but she's not going to use anything against me._ Abyss thought as he looked at Amethyst. _I don't think she wants to hurt me…. I should try to be open with her. Actually, maybe I judged the group wrong. None of them seem aggressive towards me. Maybe I should try to be more open with the entire group. There's no reason for me to mistrust them._ "Well, she—"

"Hey guys I got some berries!" Abyss and Amethyst looked at Tide as she landed. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was I interrupting something?"

"No. We were just chatting," Amethyst said.

"Oh. Ok." Tide started looking for something to put the berries in. "Sandstone and Inferno shouldn't be too much longer. I saw them not too far away. Inferno got a few rabbits and Sandstone was looking under rocks for lizards. Or, well, I'm guessing that's what he was doing."

"Awesome! I figured out where we are going to go today," Amethyst told her.

"Yeah. The Skywing Kingdom," Tide said. "Does anyone have a bowl-like object?"

"No and no," Amethyst replied with after a giggle. "You should've grabbed the branches."

"True, but then the berries will take longer to regrow." Tide let out an annoyed sigh. "Look we are the only three that eat fruits so just take what you want." Abyss and Amethyst took some of the berries out of her talons.

"Better?" Abyss inquired.

"Much," Tide responded. She then turned to Amethyst. "So where are we going now?"

"I'll tell you when everyone gets back," Amethyst said as she started to eat her berries. "It's going to be thrilling!"

Tide shivered again. She then sat down. "Alright, so what were—" Inferno and Sandstone landed slightly away from the three.

"We're back!" Inferno said. "Rabbits anyone?" He had two more left.

"Yeah. I'll take one," Amethyst said. Inferno threw Amethyst one and then walked over to Tide and sat down next to her.

"Anyone want this one?" Inferno asked. No one responded. "Alright. Mine then."

"So where are we going?" Tide questioned Amethyst.

"Wait, we aren't going to the Skywing Kingdom?" Sandstone asked.

"Not yet. We are going to take a small detour," Amethyst answered. "We are going to explore the Seawing Kingdom!"

"What?" Tide exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, Tide! You said you missed your home. I figured we'd go there. You want to go back and I'd love to see it. It's a win-win!" Amethyst said excitedly.

"Uhh, that's really nice of you, but I don't really feel comfortable with this," Tide frantically said. "I mean there's mostly ocean and I don't know if we can go to the Summer Palace and I don't know if I feel comfortable returning yet. It's just so boring. Let's just not go."

"Oh come on Tide. Don't be so dramatic. We don't need to go to the Summer Palace either. Just an island or two," Amethyst reasoned.

"I'm not being dramatic!" Tide responded. "Look, we aren't going. I'm the only one who knows their way around the ocean and I'm not going."

"Is that final?" Amethyst asked.

"Yes," Tide responded sternly. "No discussion."

Amethyst nodded and stood up. "Alright. Let's go!"

"Are we going to the Skywing Kingdom again?" Abyss asked a little nervously.

"Nope. We go as planned. We'll go to the Seawing Kingdom then the Skywing Kingdom," Amethyst told everyone.

"What? You'll never find it!" Tide said outraged. "You'll be lost at sea!"

"I'm good with directions. It'll be fine." Amethyst smiled and waved her talon down.

"I don't believe you," Tide said. "I'm calling your bluff."

"Whatever." Amethyst shrugged. "Let's go guys." Amethyst took flight. She turned to Tide. "We'll probably be back in Bogwater in two days if you want to join us again." Sandstone followed immediately after. Abyss reluctantly took flight too, and they started towards the beach.

Abyss flew to Amethyst. "You're kidding right?"

"No. I'm great with directions!" Amethyst said with a smile.

"You got lost in the desert before you ran across Mirage," Sandstone said drily.

"I just told you that so you'd feel bad for me," Amethyst responded. Sandstone rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I respect Tide's decision. I wish she'd come, but we'll be ok. Once we get back, we can group up with her again!" Amethyst looked and saw that Inferno had stayed behind. "Oh. And Inferno too apparently."

They stopped at the beach where Amethyst started looking around, and it appeared like she was muttering to herself. She looked at the sun and then back at the ocean.

"Alright…. Where are we going?" Sandstone asked after a little.

"I'm thinking," Amethyst said quickly. "Give me a few." She silently hovered for a little longer. "Alright. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. If I remember right, the Seawing Kingdom is to the east of the Mudwing Kingdom. Since we are in the upper part of the Mudwing Kingdom., we just need to go….. that way." She pointed dead ahead. "Let's go!"

They started flying out to seas when Abyss realized something. _Wait. Didn't Tide say something about living near the Rainwing Kingdom… Oh no._ "Wait a second Amethyst," Abyss said. "Tide said something about growing up near the Rainforest."

"Your point?" Amethyst said with a confused look.

"That's near the South of Pyrrhia…. In the opposite direction of the Skywing Kingdom," Abyss informed her.

"You've been leading us in the wrong direction?" Sandstone asked disbelievingly.

"Oooohhh... So, uh, I may have took directions as if the sun was rising last night, not setting." She started to scratch behind her left horn as she started to blush. "My bad."

"Yeah. No kidding," Sandstone said in an annoyed tone.

"This isn't too big of a deal. Look, we just need to go northeast instead of east. So we go that way." She still pointed out to the sea, but slightly more to her left this time. "Problem solved. Let's go." She started flying away.

Sandstone and Abyss looked at each other. "Are you going?" Abyss questioned.

"Sadly," Sandstone said. He gave a long sigh. "This is getting to be more and more of a talon full." Sandstone started to follow her.

 _This probably isn't going to go well,_ Abyss thought. _I probably shouldn't go…. But then again, they are some of the only dragons that have been nice to me. I shouldn't abandon them. I might even be able to help in some way. Ah! I can be there connection to the sea! I can get food and possibly even directions!_ Abyss sped over to them to catch up. They soon heard a voice behind them after flying for a little.

"Hey! Hold up!" Tide yelled as she quickly caught up to them. "Fine. I'll show you where it's at…" Tide looked at Amethyst and angrily added, "Don't think I don't know what you did."

"What are you talking about?" Amethyst asked her with a small laugh.

"Don't play stupid," Tide growled back. Amethyst was taken aback. "It's this way." Tide went more to the left than where Amethyst was going. Sandstone followed.

"Why is she mad?" Amethyst asked Inferno.

"She's mad that you guilt tripped her into taking you to the Seawing Kingdom. She really doesn't want to go," Inferno said. "Personally, I can't believe you did."

"What? That's absurd!" Amethyst exclaimed in shock. "I would never try to manipulate someone like that!"

"Well it really seemed like you were trying to," Inferno responded.

"Oh no." Amethyst looked slightly down and thought for a little. She snapped her claws and looked back up. "I'll just explain myself real fast. Then problem solved!" Amethyst took off after the two of them as Abyss and Inferno followed.

"I don't want to hear it Amethyst." Abyss heard as he and Inferno caught up.

"Tide please just listen," Amethyst begged. "I really wasn't trying to manipulate you. I didn't even think of it that way! Promise!"

"Look Amethyst, just leave me alone right now. I'm not in the mood to hear this alright?" Tide growled. "Besides, I need to focus on where I'm going, and you better hope another Seawing doesn't see us."

 _Or at least me,_ Abyss thought. _Well, maybe as long as no one knows whom my father is everything will be ok._

Tide sped up slightly and left Amethyst by herself. They flew for a while. Inferno went to try to calm Tide down and Sandstone was being anti-social like usual. He had tried talking to Amethyst earlier, but it didn't seem like it worked to well. Abyss flew near the back. He was still nervous about going to the Kingdom of the Sea since he was worried about what would happen to him if they discovered his heritage. Amethyst had been unusually quiet most the trip. Strangely, Abyss hated it.

 _I thought I would enjoy the silence. Amethyst is nice and all, but she talks a lot. It's nothing against her, it's just a little much to me. Now that she's stopped…. I miss it. It just doesn't feel right for her to be quiet and withdrawn. It's so unlike her._ Abyss thought for a little. _I'm going to try to cheer her up,_ he decided. Abyss flew a little faster and caught up to Amethyst whom gave a small smile when she saw him.

"Hey Abyss," Amethyst said without her usual cheerful tone.

"Hey," Abyss greeted back. "You doing ok?"

"Yeah. I just feel bad. Tide's really mad," Amethyst told him.

"She'll calm down," Abyss comforted.

"What if she doesn't? I don't want her to hate me," Amethyst confessed.

"I'm pretty sure the only thing she hates is the word 'thrilling'," Abyss said. Amethyst's smile grew a little. "She'll get over it. Once she's calm, she'll realize you didn't try to twist her wing."

"How can you be so sure?" Amethyst asked.

"Ha! Come on. Who can stay mad at you?" Abyss said. "You're so kind, sweet, and thoughtful."

Amethyst blushed and smiled. "You really feel that way?"

"Of course!" Abyss replied. "I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true."

Amethyst's smile got a little bigger. "Thanks Abyss."

They flew a little longer and made idle chat as the sun slowly sunk into the sea. Tide stopped and hovered above an island causing everyone to stop behind her.

"We're here," Tide said in a strange, strained voice.

"I expected a Palace or something," Sandstone said drily.

"We have two, but we can't go to one of them. Well, Abyss can. One's in the sea. Never even been myself. The other one is the Summer Palace and I'm not going there, nor would they appreciate a Sandwing, Nightwing, Skywing, and strange Seawing popping up," Tide said crossly. "I don't mean 'strange' in a mean way, Abyss. I just mean they've never seen you before."

"It's fine," Abyss responded indifferently.

"We're stopping here," Tide said. She started to fly down towards the small forested island, and started to walk around in an almost disconnected manner.

"Wow! This island is beautiful!" Amethyst said in awe. "White sand beach and a pretty forest."

"I have to admit, it's not bad up close," Sandstone said.

"Place must be cursed or something. I think Sandstone just gave a compliment." Inferno smirked and Sandstone frowned at him.

"Come on you two. Just enjoy the scenery!" Amethyst said.

Abyss shook his head. He walked to the beach where he looked out over the ocean. _This is where my father grew up,_ Abyss thought. _He spent his whole life under these peaceful waves until he met my mother on one of these islands. I wonder which one it was._ Abyss stood there and enjoyed the sea breeze which was his favorite part of being on the coast line.

"Hey Abyss." Abyss turned and saw Inferno a couple steps away. "We are going to start setting up camp. I saw some berries near where we landed. Figured I'd let you know."

"Thanks. I'll get some in a few," Abyss told him. Inferno nodded and walk into the trees while Abyss looked back to the ocean. He watched the waves roll onto the shore for a while until he heard something to his right. He turned and saw a Seawing approaching him. She walked with a very slight limp and one of her wings stuck out a little more than the other. Abyss's eyes went wide. _Who is she? What is she doing here?... She doesn't look happy._ She was still dripping with water. _She must have saw me from the ocean!_ Abyss realized. _Squidbrain!_

She stopped not too far away from Abyss and aggressively said, "What are you doing on my island?"

"Your island?" Abyss said in confusion.

"Do you have sponge in your ears? Yes. MY island," the Seawing growled. "Now what are you doing here?"

"A few friends and I are just stopping here for a little," Abyss explained. "Just for the night."

"No you're not. I'm not allowing anyone here. This island means a lot to me and I'm not having you and your friends take it away from me! Leave now or I'll force you out!" she threatened.

"We aren't trying to take anything. We've been flying all day and we're exhausted. Look, we'll be out in the morning," Abyss tried to reason.

"You aren't tainting this place!" the Seawing yelled. "You are leaving now whether you want to or not!"

Abyss had a strange feeling and jumped to his left as the Seawing lunged with surprising swiftness.

"Please calm down! I don't want to fight!" Abyss pleaded.

"Then leave!" the Seawing angrily said as she struck at him. Abyss dodged, but as he did she swept her tail to knock him off his feet. Abyss stumbled and the dragon pushed him to the sand where Abyss skidded a little. She went to jump on top of him, but Abyss rolled out the way. He got up and turned to run into the forest. _I'll have better cover to hide there!_ he thought. He started to run when he had another feeling to dodge, but before he could, he felt a tug on his tail. He fell and spun around to see that the Seawing had grabbed it.

She quickly yanked him towards her and raise her claw, formed like a fist. Abyss turned and threw sand at her. She blocked the sand with her wing and then punched at Abyss' snout, which he redirected it before striking her in the snout. Her grip loosened and Abyss got back up and struck at her again; however, she dodged and grabbed his arm. She pulled him to her and punched at the same time. Abyss had the same strange feeling and allowed himself to fall back to the sand. The punch missed as Abyss landed on his back. She was still holding his arm and she stepped on Abyss to pin him. Abyss managed to dodge some but not all of her attacks before getting his hind legs under her stomach and pushing her off of him. Abyss tried to pin her, but got a sudden urge to roll to the right once he did. He rolled as she pushed him over, causing them to roll twice and letting Abyss retain the upper hand. He punched at her and missed. He had a bad feeling and moved his arm right before she tried to bite him. She then tried to punch him in the chest, but Abyss quickly pushed himself off her and it barely missed. Abyss hissed as he started to get a headache. She was up almost immediately and started striking at Abyss. Abyss evaded the attacks; however, he was starting to get a little slower. _I don't feel so good,_ he thought as he dodged a slice at his chest. Right after he dodged, she threw sand at him. Abyss turned, but then he felt a pain in his back as the dragon punched him in the spine.

He stumbled and the dragon tripped him with her tail. She grabbed his left wing and started to twist causing Abyss to cry out in pain. She then locked his head into her right arm causing Abyss to start gasping. _Can't…. breath….._ He pushed himself up. She held firm as Abyss started walking backwards towards the sea. The dragon started to twist Abyss' wing more to get him to stop, but he fought through the pain. _If…. I… can just get to… the ocean._ She pulled up and moved him to where he was facing the ocean. Abyss' vision was starting to go obscure as he tried to think of a new plan. He used what little consciousness he had to listen to his ability. He stomped on her foot and elbowed her in the ribs. She let go of him and he turned and punched her in the side of her head, making her stumble slightly to the side. Abyss fell to the ground and started gasping for air when he felt he needed to roll. He did a clumsy roll to the right barely avoiding her kick. Before he fully got up, he had another strange feeling, but couldn't dodge in time. The dragon uppercut Abyss under his jaw causing him to stumbled back. He tried to dodge the flurry of attacks that followed, but more and more started to hit. After a few strikes hit him, he evaded and pushed her with all of his body weight, causing her to fall back into the sand.

 _Now's my chance to run._ Abyss went to flee, but stopped shortly after and started to gag as he started to feel extremely nauseous. He started to shamble away as his vision started to fade in and out and his headache worsened. With an unbearable headache and a feeling like he was about to throw up, he collapsed. Abyss lied there as his vision faded in and out. _I pushed myself too far. I have to get away._ Abyss raised a talon and tried to drag himself, but he didn't have the strength. He felt someone grab his tail and start to drag him.

"Just had to do this the hard way didn't we?" he heard a voice.

"Abyss!" he barely saw Inferno rush out of the tree line. "Drop him now!"

The Seawing turned around as Inferno charged her. Inferno tackled the Seawing and the two started to battle. Abyss tried to get up and help, but he couldn't even move. As Abyss lied there, he realized Inferno was losing. Inferno tried to breathe fire on her, but she ducked under it and forced Inferno's snout upward. After getting hit a few times, he then tried to punch her, but she dodge and wrapped her arm around his. She hit him in the chest and then swept his rear legs out from under him. She pushed him to the ground as he fell, causing him to slam into it harder, before hitting him on the side of the head. He lied still. She started dragging him by his tail over to Abyss. _We're going to die here,_ Abyss thought. _I just got friends and now I'm going to lose them._ He weakly struggled to try to get up.

He heard, "Just stay down." as he was pushed back to the ground. The dragon grabbed his tail again and started walking to the ocean. "All you had to do was leave. That's all! This is my island. Mine! I'm not letting you delinquents take away from me the last place I saw my daughter!"

"Just where do you think you are going with my friends?"

The dragon stopped and dropped Inferno and Abyss' tails after a small pause. She then quietly said, "That voice….. I know that voice…." She turned around and gasped. "Tide?"

Tide stood there for a little in shock and before dropping her daggers. "Mother?"


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 _ **Tide**_

Tide stood there in complete shock. She felt so many emotions go through her: Fear, happiness, sadness, relief. She wanted to run. She wanted to cry. She wanted to hug her mother. _I'm– I'm not ready,_ she thought. _I don't want to face her yet! I should run now._ Even though she wanted to run, she couldn't. She just stayed frozen in place, unable to move a muscle. Her mother rushed over to her and hugged her.

"Tide! My darling! It's been so long!" Tide's mother said. "Where have you been? Oh how I've missed you so much!" She stopped hugging Tide and moved her talons to Tide's shoulders. Looking into her mother eyes, Tide could only see pure happiness behind the tears and lost herself. She felt tears start to run down her face and she hugged her mother again as she started to sob. _I'm so weak,_ she thought internally. _Look at me broken down just at the sight of my mother. Pathetic…. But I don't care._

"Why did you hide from me?" Tide's mother asked with the pain still evident in her voice.

"I wanted to come back. I swear! I just…. I just–" Tide lost herself again as she hugged her mother tighter.

"It's ok. That doesn't matter now. All that matters is you're back and you're safe." Tide's mother released her. Tide sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I just can't believe it. After all these years I can see you again! We have so much to catch up on."

"What's going on over here?"

Tide turned around and saw Sandstone and Amethyst come out of the trees. Sandstone stopped when he saw Abyss and Inferno lying on the beach.

Amethyst gasped. "Abyss!" she shrieked. She started forward, but Sandstone grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Stay back, Amethyst." Sandstone took an attack stance.

"Get behind me, Tide." Tide's mother pushed Tide behind her.

"Wait, no! This is a misunderstanding," Tide said frantically, but the two lunged at each other. "No! Stop fighting!" The two rolled clawing and biting at each other. Tide's mother couldn't get Sandstone into a hold. She was also having a hard time fighting Sandstone while avoiding his venomous tail barb. Amethyst rushed over to Abyss while the two fought. Tide ran over to them and tried to pull Sandstone away, but he just shoved her off. He then pinned Tide's mother and raised his tail. "Sandstone stop! That's my mother!"

"What?!" Sandstone exclaimed as he whipped his head around to Tide. Tide's mother took this opportunity to grab and move Sandstone's tail while punching him in the throat. She then kicked him off of her, sending Sandstone backwards into the sand as he grabbed his throat. "This is your mother?" Sandstone said disbelievingly in between coughs.

"Uh, yeah," Tide said awkwardly as her mother offered a claw to help Sandstone up. He pushed it away and move to a sitting position. He sat there rubbing his throat. "Sandstone, meet my mother, Aqua. Mother this is my friend Sandstone."

"I'm sorry about this. Really," Aqua apologized as she looked at Abyss and Inferno lying on the ground. Amethyst was still by Abyss. It looked like she was trying to talk to him. "This island was my only connection to Tide before she left all those years ago. I didn't want anyone to take what little I had left of her away from me." She turned and smiled at Tide. "But you're back now." Tide looked down as she started to feel guilty. _I could've came home a lot sooner,_ Tide thought. _I would've saved her a lot of pain and anguish._ Aqua looked back to Amethyst and Abyss and walked over to them. Tide followed. Amethyst looked up at Aqua as she approached.

"Get away!" Amethyst yelled angrily. "You killed him you cold-hearted newt! Just leave him be!"

"Don't be so dramatic. He's not dead. I wasn't even trying to kill him, only knock him out so I could put him on a different island," Aqua said, but Amethyst still stood between Aqua and Abyss. "I understand your mistrust, but I need to assess him."

"He might need medical attention," Tide said as she tried to reason with Amethyst. "My mother knows injuries."

"I'm mainly curious why he passed out into such a weak state," Aqua said. "I honestly didn't make that good of contact with him. He's a slippery one. Got in maybe two or three good hits. The rest were misses and grazes. I definitely didn't do any head damage, but his back might hurt for a little."

"See Amethyst? She just wants to make sure he's ok." Amethyst still looked uncertain. "Please Amethyst. Just let her look," Tide pleaded.

Amethyst reluctantly moved out of the way. She then said in a threatening voice, "If you try to hurt him more…"

"I won't dear," Aqua said as she started to look at Abyss and muttered, "I'm so sorry dear." She felt his jaw. "His jaw seems to be fine. That was the main area I hit." She then checked to see if his wing was dislocated. "Wing's fine." She then looked at Abyss who was just blankly staring. "If you can hear me, make a sound or move something." Abyss lied still.

"What was the last thing that happened mother?" Tide asked.

"I was getting light hits on him when he knocked me off my feet. I saw him start to run, but then he stopped and made a gagging sound. I got up and he started walking again and fell after a short distance," Aqua recalled.

"Are you sure it was a light hit?" Tide asked skeptically. _I know all too well how ferocious you can be._

"He moved!" Amethyst exclaimed. Aqua and Tide looked and saw Abyss moving one of his wings. "Abyss! Are you ok?"

"Define 'ok'," he said in a very weak voice. Amethyst tried to sit him up, but Abyss shouted in pain. Amethyst quickly took back her claws. "Please don't do that. It makes my head throb more and me queasier."

"Tell me what's wrong," Aqua said. "I need to know so I can help."

"You hit me. That's the issue," Abyss replied, still in a weak voice. Sandstone walked over and sat beside Amethyst where he continued to watch Aqua.

"Yep. I do believe that is the problem. He passed out because he was hit. Pretty simple diagnoses. Especially since you attacked," Sandstone said drily.

Aqua sighed. "Just tell me what your symptoms are."

Abyss slowly named off his ailments. "Headache. Weak. Queasy. Blurry vision."

"So you gave my friend a concussion," Tide said in an annoyed voiced. "Great introduction there mom."

Aqua sighed. "It would appear so. He just going to need to rest. Might take a day or two for him to recover."

"By the way guys, I'm fine too."

Inferno was sitting in the sand rubbing the side of his head. "Thanks for all the concern."

"Don't be all sour. We were just getting to you," Tide said with a small smile.

Tide and Aqua walked a couple of feet over to him. He glared at Aqua as she approached. "Someone tell me why we are trusting the dragon that just attacked us."

"Well, she's my mother. Aqua, this is Inferno. Inferno, this is my mother Aqua. " Tide responded.

"Sorry. Our meeting would've been different if I knew you were with Tide," Aqua told Inferno. She reached out to feel his jaw, but he pushed her claw away.

"What are you doing?" Inferno growled.

"I'm trying to see if your jaw is broken," Aqua responded slightly amused.

"Just because we aren't enemies now doesn't mean I trust you. You still assaulted me and my friend. I'm not just going to forget that. Besides I think I can tell if my jaw is broken," Inferno snapped. "I really don't even get why you attacked us. I mean, what did Abyss even do?"

"Well, to be honest, nothing," Aqua said slightly embarrassed. "I'm not saying I'm proud of my actions, but when you lose someone you really care about, you do strange things. I mean, everything has different meanings now. This island was no longer just an island. It was TIDE's island. This is where she spent most her life, this is where we spent time together... This was all I had left of her. I… I just couldn't let it go. I couldn't even let anyone change it. It had to stay just like it was." Aqua shook her head when she stopped talking. Tide could her that she was becoming more and more bothered as she explained herself.

As she did, Tide felt guiltier and guiltier about not returning sooner. _See. She doesn't see you as a monster,_ she thought. _She's just happy to have you back. I can't believe my fear caused her all this pain and torment… I wonder if the letter actually helped anything._ Tide could also see that Inferno was affected by the explanation. _He knows this pain all too well. He's probably thinking of Cardinal._ After a small silence, Aqua refocused and said,"If you won't let me evaluate your injuries, tell me how you feel."

Inferno was staring blankly, but seemed to snap back to reality once Aqua said something. "I feel like someone slammed me on the ground and punched me in the side of the head…. Oh wait." Inferno was still trying to be aggressive, but the tone wasn't as aggressive as his other remarks. It sounded more annoyed.

Aqua shook her head. "Just let me know if you think anything is wrong."

Inferno started to get up, but was a little unsteady. Tide grabbed him and helped him up. "How's Abyss doing?"

"We think he has a concussion. He won't be able to get up for a day or so," Tide informed Inferno.

"So we are stuck on this island for a couple of days. Great…. There's no food here you know? We looked. None!" Inferno exclaimed.

"There's some berries," Tide said awkwardly.

"That only really works for Amethyst and Abyss. Maybe you, but I see you eat meat a lot. What about Sandstone and I? What are we going to do for the next few days?" Inferno questioned. "I'd rather not have to fly back to the mainland every day to get a hog."

"Well, there might not be any food on the island, but there is quite a bit around it," Aqua said.

"None of us have gills," Inferno remarked. "What are we going to do? Hold our breath?"

"Do you think I'm going to just abandon my daughter's friends on an island after beating them up? I'll get the food. Just stay here." She walked back into the ocean and dove in.

"Tide, she not going to try to imprison us is she?" Inferno asked in a slightly worried voice.

"Well, not me," Tide responded. Inferno looked at her with wide eyes. "I'm kidding." Tide laughed. "We're fine."

Inferno let out a breath of relief. "You shouldn't joke like that Tide."

"Pft. You should've expected it," Tide countered. Sandstone started walking up to Tide.

"We need to leave. Where's the nearest island we can hide out at?" Sandstone inquired.

"What? Why?" Tide asked astonished.

"Really? Because your darling mother almost killed Abyss. She's dangerous. We need to get away while she's gone," Sandstone responded.

"She won't hurt us now," Tide tried to reassure.

"No. She won't hurt YOU," Sandstone countered. "The second she gets the chance, she'll get rid of us and she'll say it was to protect you from us."

"That's ridiculous!" Tide exclaimed. "Look, I know my mother. She a little protective, but she's not insane."

"No, you KNEW your mother. You obviously haven't seen her in a while. Dragons change," Sandstone argued with anger creeping into his voice.

Tide was slightly hurt by this. She was already feeling bad for being away from her for so long. She didn't need another dragon to rub her snout in it. "Stop talking like you know her. You know nothing," Tide said in a deep growl.

"I know danger when I see it," Sandstone snapped back.

"She… is… not… A… THREAT!" Tide screamed at him. "Get that through your thick skull!"

"Tide! She just almost killed Abyss and Inferno! Stop being so stupid and look at the facts!" Sandstone growled at her as he approached.

"Tail fins of a shark you're slow!" Tide yelled back as she got closer to him. Their snouts were almost touching. "I am looking at the facts! She was trying to defend this place! She tried to beat up, not kill, but BEAT UP the intruders! Now she's trying to help because she realizes what's going on! So who's the actual idiot here that's not looking at the facts?!" Tide could see the fury and frustration in Sandstone's eyes. _You want to fight? Go ahead. Strike at me. I'd LOVE to knock some sense and manners into you._

"I agree with Sandstone," Amethyst said as she walked over. "Tide, look at what she did to Inferno and Abyss…. What makes you think we are really safe here?"

Amethyst distrusting Aqua threw Tide a little. _Amethyst doesn't trust my mother? But she's like the ultimate happy-go-lucky dragon,_ Tide thought. Tide looked away from Sandstone while taking a few breaths. "No. Look, I need you guys to trust me. This won't happen again. I promise. She was just protecting me, in her own weird way. Everything will be fine." Their unsure faces annoyed Tide more. _Why can't they see this the way I do?_ Tide internally asked in frustration. _It's not that complicated!_ Tide shook her head and started walking to Abyss. He was now in a sitting position taking deep breaths.

"You should really be lying down. You need to rest and take it easy," Tide said as she grabbed Abyss.

"No no. It's fine," Abyss said a little stronger than before. He started to stand back up and Tide tried assist him, but he fell back to the ground, making him groan as started rubbing his head.

"Abyss. Rest. That's the only way you'll get better," Tide told him

"I'll be fine in a few minutes," Abyss responded

"I'm afraid not" Tide said back while shaking her head. "A concussion takes longer than a few minutes to go away."

"Trust me, it's not a concussion." Abyss stopped rubbing his head.

Tide thought for a moment. "Have you had this happen before?"

Abyss looked at her. "You look like something is bothering you. What's up?"

 _He's trying to change the subject,_ Tide thought as she narrowed her eyes. _Why is this dragon so evasive?... I'll let it slide this time._ "The others don't want to stay. They're worried about my mother."

"Can you blame them? It wasn't the best first impression," Abyss said.

"Guess you think we should leave too?" Tide stated. Abyss didn't answer. Tide shook her head. "She's not evil or dangerous." There was another small pause.

"Tide, I… I'll trust your decision," Abyss said, but he seemed reluctant and not very happy with the decision.

"Really? Because it doesn't really sound that way," Tide noticed.

"I'm not exactly used to trusting other dragons. It hasn't worked out well for me in the past," Abyss responded. "Can you help me back up?"

Tide sighed and grabbed his right arm. "You just don't listen do you?"

"I can be pretty stubborn," Abyss said as he smiled. To Tide's surprise, Abyss was able to get up this time. He was a little unsteady, but he shouldn't even be able to get off the ground. "Thanks." He started slowly walking over to Sandstone, Amethyst, and Inferno; Tide walked over to stabilize him. As they walked, Abyss started to get more stable and move faster. Sandstone saw them and walked over.

"Ah you are able to travel. Excellent. That's one less problem to worry about," Sandstone said to Abyss. "We'll fly out now if you're up for it."

Abyss opened his mouth, but Tide said something before he could. "I think you mean. 'Good. You aren't hurt. Maybe I was wrong about Aqua,'" she growled as Inferno and Amethyst started looking towards them.

"You know what, Tide? You think you're tough. How about we fight for the decision? We go with the winner's choice," Sandstone growled back.

"Fine by me," Tide said as she smiled and went into an attack position. Amethyst ran in between the both of them.

"No! No more fighting!" she yelled. "Hasn't there been enough conflict for one day?" Both Tide and Sandstone returned to a normal position, but they both were staring angrily at each other. "We'll make this a group decision alright? All of those who wish stay, raise your claw." Tide was the first to vote. Inferno followed shortly after. "Alright. Those who wish to leave." Sandstone and Amethyst raised their claws. Abyss sat there. "It's down to you Abyss. Should we stay or should we go?"

"Come on, Abyss. She assaulted you! How is this even a decision?!" Sandstone questioned in shock.

"Hush, Sandstone. Let him decide on his own," Amethyst said.

Abyss was quiet for a bit longer. _Come on Abyss. Please. Please trust me,_ Tide thought. Abyss looked at her for a little.

"I vote stay," he said.

"Ha!" Tide said loudly.

"How could you vote stay?" Sandstone demanded in shock.

"I trust her," Abyss replied as he nodded to Tide.

"Oh, you trust her? I'm sure that'll get you far when her mother kills you!" Sandstone shouted.

"If you don't like it so much then leave!" Tide shouted. "I'm tired of hearing your whining!"

"And do what? Make it easier? If I leave, who's going to stop your mother? It definitely won't be you, Abyss has a concussion, Amethyst won't fight, and Inferno won't because he's your boyfriend!" Sandstone exclaimed. Inferno started blowing smoke out of his nose. "All I want is what is best for the group. Can you say the same?"

"That's enough!" Amethyst shouted before Tide could respond. "We are staying whether anyone likes it or not! I suggest we all calm down and stop being at each other's throats." Sandstone glared at Tide a little longer then turned and headed back to the forest, grumbling as he went.

"That dragon has some serious trust issues," Tide said in an annoyed tone.

Amethyst shook her head and started walking to the forest as well.

"I'll try to talk to them," Inferno told them before following Amethyst. Tide watched them go for a little before turning back to Abyss.

"Why did you vote to stay?" Tide asked Abyss.

"Like I said, I'm trying to trust others," Abyss stated.

"It shouldn't be that hard to trust your friends," Tide responded. Abyss looked shocked for a second before he smiled a little.

"It shouldn't, but I've misplaced my trust too much," Abyss told her. Aqua surprised both of them by landing with a thud just a couple of feet away with a large net of fish.

"Think this will be enough?" Aqua asked them as she lifted the net that was bursting with fish.

Tide laughed. "It's too much."

"Ok so maybe I got carried away in my excitement." Aqua laughed. She then looked at Abyss. "You should lie down."

"I'm good. Don't worry," Abyss said. "It wasn't a concussion."

"Strange," Aqua said back as she thought for a little. She snapped out of deep though and started looking around for the others. "Where are the rest of you friends, Tide?"

"In the forest," Tide said. They started walking to it. "Do you think we could visit the Summer Palace? I think my friends would like to see it."

"The Summer Palace? You didn't hear? It was destroyed in a Skywing attack," Aqua informed her.

"What? You're kidding right?" Tide said in dismay.

"No. I've been living near this island. I could return to the underwater Palace, but I wanted to be here for when you came back. How have you not heard of it?"

"Not sure." Tide laughed nervously, causing Aqua to give her a strange look. _She knows I'm hiding something._ They saw Inferno and Amethyst standing in a clearing. Amethyst saw them and her eyes went wide went she saw Aqua and the net of fish.

"Oh wow! Look at all the fish!" Amethyst exclaimed as Aqua put down the net and let the fish spill out. Amethyst started sorting through it. "I never knew they fish came in so many colors!"

Aqua laughed. "There's more than that."

"I wish I had gills," Amethyst said longingly.

"Where's Sandstone?" Abyss asked.

"He went to get wood," Amethyst answered.

"Yeah. Cause there isn't any wood nearby," Tide said "It's not like we are in a forest right?" She sighed. "I'll go find him." Amethyst looked at her with an unsure expression. "I'll play nice. Geez." She started to go further into the woods. It wasn't long before she heard movement. She saw Sandstone by a rock picking leaves off a severed tree limb. "You know it would be easier if you broke it down at the camp," Tide said. Sandstone didn't respond. "Are you really going to ignore me now? Wow you're petty." Tide sat down beside him.

"Tide, are you sure your mother is the same?" Sandstone asked.

"Of course! Dragons don't change," Tide responded.

"You're wrong," Sandstone said back. "I've seen it first-claw. Dragons can change. You think you know someone and then they turn on you."

"Don't be ridiculous. It was probably a misunderstanding." _Where is he going with this?_ Tide thought curiously.

"Ha! A misunderstanding," Sandstone mumbled and then said a little louder, "Oh yes. I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding. You think the dragon loves and cares about you. That they'd do anything for you. Then one day, it's over. They aren't nice to you. There's no more compassion towards you. No more love… almost like they weren't even your mother…" Sandstone shook his head. "Things change. Things always change." They sat in silence as Tide wondered whether Sandstone had just slightly opened up to her. It was definitely the most personal thing he's said so far. As she did, Sandstone got up and said, "I think it's time we joined the others. You coming?"

Tide nodded before they both got up went back to the others. Sandstone didn't like seeing Aqua with the others, but decided to keep a very close eye on her instead of causing another conflict. The late afternoon had finally succumbed to the night. Inferno set the wood ablaze as the dragons gathered around in a circle and feasted. Amethyst started talking about the topic of the game today when Aqua leaned over to Tide.

"So where have you been dear? You really worried me," Aqua asked.

"Ah, you know. Here and there," Tide answered. She flashed, "Not here. Not now." in Aquatic. Aqua nodded.

"Tide I forgot you could do that!" Amethyst exclaimed. "What colors can you do?"

"What colors you got?" Tide challenged.

"Alright, what's everyone's favorite color?" Amethyst inquired. "Tide, you match whatever it is!"

"Red," Inferno said. Tide lite up her luminescent scales the color of red.

"Dragonet's play," Tide remarked.

"Purple! I love purple!" Amethyst said excitedly. Tide changed it to a light purple. "Oooo. Darker!" Tide turned them a shade darker. "Darker!" Tide did the same. "A little more." Tide shook her head. She darkened them slightly. "Wow. Beautiful," Amethyst said in awe. "You are amazing, Tide." Tide blushed.

"Gold," Sandstone said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"Nothing," Amethyst said. Tide changed her scale colors to gold.

"Poke-a-dot," Abyss said. Everyone laughed except Sandstone whom did smirk a little.

"That's not a color," Amethyst said.

"Alright then… rainbow," Abyss answered.

Amethyst shook her head. "That's a collection of colors."

"Now, now Amethyst," Tide said. "If he wants rainbow, he can have it."

"Actually, I wanted poke-a-dot."

Tide rolled her eyes before making each luminescent scale a different color. "Trying to be all difficult," Tide chuckled.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you all to yourselves. Don't want to impose," Aqua said as she got up and touched snouts with Tide. Tide's heart ached. She didn't want Aqua to leave. Tide knew she could see her mother tomorrow before they left, but she felt care-free again with her there, a feeling she hadn't felt in so long. Aqua smiled and looked at her for a little before walking away from the fire to take flight.

"You should come back at sunrise before we leave tomorrow," Sandstone told Aqua. Aqua blinked in surprise, Tide stared at him in shock, and Inferno's jaw practically hit the ground.

After a small pause, Aqua smiled. "I'd be honored to see you off." Sandstone nodded. "Are you going with them Tide?"

"I don't know," she admitted.

"What? Why?" Amethyst asked in shock.

"I've been away from my mother for so long. I just don't know if I want to leave her again," Tide admitted.

Aqua sighed and walked back over to Tide. "Tide, as much as I love having you back and wish you would stay, don't let me stand in your way. Live your life. Have fun with your friends." She gestured to everyone. She wrapped her wing around Tide. "No matter where you go, I'll always be with you."

Tide smiled. "Thanks mom."

"That is the one thing I wish you never got from me. That stupid sense of adventure." She laughed a little as Tide smiled. Aqua released her. "Enjoy the rest of your night." She waved good bye and started heading back towards to ocean.

"It's getting late. I think it's time we get some rest," Amethyst said.

"Already ahead of you," Inferno said while lying down. "I'm beat." Abyss moved away a little and lied down. Amethyst moved to a spot near Abyss and did the same. Sandstone walked over to Tide.

"It seems that I was wrong," Sandstone said.

"I'm sorry. What was that? Can you say it a bit louder?" Tide asked as she put her claw by her right ear.

"You heard me," Sandstone said grouchily before he walked away. _Ah! There he is! That's the Sandstone I know!_ Tide thought as she smiled. She walked over to a nice spot and closed her eyes.

Tide wasn't asleep for very long before someone poked her. She opened he left eye a little to see Inferno. "What do you want?" she asked sleepily.

"We need to talk," Inferno whispered.

Tide yawned and sat up. "Can't it wait until the morning?"

"No. The others will be awake," Inferno told her. Tide sighed. She then got up, stretched, and motioned for Inferno to lead the way. They walked away from the camp, but they didn't go too far away, just far enough where they wouldn't be heard.

"Why are you lying to them?" Inferno asked.

"What do you mean?" Tide asked back.

"You're lying to them. You said we've only know each other for weeks and that you were just adventuring," Inferno pointed out.

"I'm sorry that I don't want them to know about what I used to do or what I do now," Tide said slightly annoyed. "Please forgive me for wanting to leave that out."

"That was in your past and you had no choice. No one will judge you harshly," Inferno responded.

"Just because you don't doesn't' mean they won't," Tide countered.

"The more you lie, the worse it will be when they find out," Inferno said with a slightly worried look.

"How are they going to find out? The only ones who know are me and you," Tide told him. "Trust me, lying is better. Besides, imagine how they would react if I told them. They would never trust or even look at me again if they knew I–" _Snap!_ Tide quickly looked in the direction of the sound. It came from behind a bush.

"Maybe it was a squirrel or something," Inferno suggested.

"There aren't any squirrels on this island. No food remember?" Tide said. She walked over to the bush and started looking it. She was pretty close to the campsite. Maybe they should've moved further away… _It doesn't look like anyone moved. What caused that sound?_ Inferno walked over to her. "This conversation is over," Tide whispered. She then punched Inferno in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Inferno whispered back as he grabbed his arm.

"That was for buying me food," Tide responded before hitting him again. "And that was for waking me." She walked back to her spot and went to sleep.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry about how long this took. Didn't have a lot of time to review this Chapter. I don't really like how this story is going (I feel it is WAY too dialogue heavy and I can't ignore it anymore), so things might change in the next Chapter, be it for better or worse. Let me know if you think I should keep the story this way or change it. Also, the next Chapter might be a while. I'm not enjoying this story as much since there's other concepts I'm wanting to pursue, and I've hit but I'm not happy with some of the goals I set out to do with this story.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Abyss**

Abyss was walking on a beach. Less than a year old, he was waiting for his father to return with food. He was trying to catch the seagulls that soared above his head. He laughed as he charged for them while they were on the ground. There was something satisfying in the way they scattered in every direction. He jumped at them as they took to the sky, cawing in annoyance. He feebly flapped his wings before falling back into the sand. Some of the sand got in his snout, causing him to sneeze before looking into the sky to watch the gulls circle. _I'll be able to chase you through the air soon enough,_ he thought in determination. The seagulls decided they were tired of being harassed and flew more inland. Abyss frowned as they left him alone on the beach. He picked up a small rock and threw it at the water. The rock immediately sunk into the sea. _What can I do now?_ He picked up another rock and threw it, trying to top his score of five skips. His father had shown him this game at a lake. He often did this challenge when he was bored, but he had grown tired of the game and frustrated that he could never beat his father's record of ten skips. He frowned as this rock splashed into the ocean. Too big. _Hhhmmm. I remember father talking about magic dragons… I wonder if I'm one._ He picked up another rock and looked at it. _That would be so awesome! Alright, if I was a magic dragon what would I do? Let's start simple. Turn this rock into a butterfly!_ The rock remained the same. _Alright. Maybe if I think it differently. Abyss demands this rock to be a butterfly!_ Again, nothing happened.

He tried a couple of more ideas, giggling at the silliness of his stupid attempts. Soon he was saying it internally in a grand over-the-top voice. He pictured himself on a tall, ridged mountain, clouds swirling around him as lightning struck down. He held the rock up in his left talon. _I, Abyss the Great and Powerful, enchant this pebble to become a butterfly!_ Thunder struck in the background as he said this last part. The illusion was quickly shattered as something started happening to the stone. Abyss shrieked and dropped the pebble into the sand. There, he saw the stone slowly morph. _That looks almost like a butterfly,_ Abyss thought in amazement. Suddenly, the butterfly fluttered up and stopped at Abyss' snout. He looked at it in surprise before it landed on his nose. He heavily breathed out, causing the butterfly to float upwards, but it gracefully landed back on his nose. Abyss smiled and blew it upwards again where it did the same thing. This time Abyss ran after blowing the butterfly off his snout. He merrily laughed as the butterfly chased him around the beach.

"Making friends?" Abyss turned to see his father getting out of the ocean. Abyss ran to him and hugged him.

"You've been gone forever!" he exclaimed.

"It's only been thirty minutes," Kelp chuckled.

"Fooorrreeevvveeer!" Abyss repeated.

"Well, I had trouble getting food this time. There wasn't a lot of fish in the usual spot. They must've moved." The butterfly landed on Kelp's snout. He smiled at it. "Friendly little thing aren't you?"

"That's because I made it!" Abyss exclaimed.

Kelp chuckled. "You have such an imagination." Kelp started walking to the forest with two clawfuls of fish.

"But I did! Here watch!" Kelp looked amused as Abyss ran over to a nearby rock. He picked it up in both his claws. "I enchant this rock to float up and float back down to me."

Kelp's face became engulfed in terror as the rock floated about three feet out of Abyss' claws before floating back down to them. "No. No, it can't be. You can't be one of those monsters," Kelp said in shock

Abyss was confused by the horrified look on Kelp's face. He dropped the stone. "What's wrong?" Abyss started walking towards him, but Kelp stepped back.

"Abyss! Stop right there! Don't come any closer!" Kelp yelled in alarm. Abyss looked at him slightly hurt.

"You're… you're not afraid of me are you, father?" Abyss asked with an expression of dismay. "Nothing has changed!"

"Everything has changed! All of the dragons who had that power became monsters! That power is evil!" Kelp stated as he backed up a little more. Abyss looked at his claws and then back at Kelp.

"This is dumb. Please stop, you're scaring me," Abyss said in a shaky voice, partially from his fear of his abilities and his pain from Kelp's actions. He took another step forward.

"Stay…. Back!" Kelp said firmly. "Please Abyss. I don't want you to get too close. There's no telling when you might lose control. You need to stay away from everyone and most importantly, never use your powers! There's no telling how much of your soul is left!" Kelp stopped. "By the moons. Please tell me you have a soul still!"

Abyss was looking at his father with moon sized eyes. He raised his claws to eye level. _What am I?_

"Do you still have a soul!?" Kelp repeated louder, catching Abyss' attention.

"I– I think so," Abyss answered worriedly. This relieved Kelp a little. "You have to help me!"

"I… I can't. There's nothing I can do," Kelp said in a much calmer voice as he regained his composure. He walked over to Abyss and put his wing around him. Abyss leaned up against him as if he was trying to bury himself in Kelp's wing. When he looked at his father, he could still see fear in his eyes. Seeing this, he turned and broke away from his father. He walked along the ocean with his wings dragging behind him and sat at the water's edge to look at his reflection. The butterfly was flying over his left shoulder. _My own father's afraid of me. What kind of monster am I?_ He hit the reflection before walking along the beach again with the butterfly in pursuit. Kelp's expression was vividly imprinted in his mind. It was one of pure horror! He tried to push it away, but it was to no avail; the image remained. _It won't change. I am what I am,_ he thought gloomily. _As long as I'm this, father will be afraid of me…. But what if I wasn't this?_ A beautiful shell caught his attention. He picked it up and turned it over in his claws. He closed his eyes and clutched the shell. _I enchant this shell to hold all of my power… What if someone finds it…. I enchant this shell to only answer to me._ Abyss opened his eyes and threw it into the ocean before looking at the sand by his claws. _I enchant this sand to spell my name._ Nothing. Abyss let out a sigh of relief. The butterfly landed only his snout again. He looked at it for a little before offering it his open claw. It flew into where Abyss looked at it for a little before crushing it. _No remains of my magic._

Abyss woke with a start and looked around in confusion. He could see Amethyst, Inferno, and Sandstone not too far away eating some left over fish. Well, Inferno and Amethyst were eating. Sandstone seemed to just be lying there. _That was a weird dream,_ Abyss thought. _It was a dream right? Yes… yes, it had to be… But it felt so real. Almost like a memory… No. No, I'm not an Animus. I'm not Darkstalker or Albatross._ He had been told the horror stories of both Darkstalker and Albatross by his father. How both had gone mad with power and starting killing, and how being of royal descent, he had the possibility of being Animus. The thought of being an evil, power-hungry monster had mortified him. He was relieved that he wasn't one, but what if one day he somehow developed the ability? This is thought lead Abyss to always be worried about getting power and turning evil. He knew evil was in him. He remembered all the horrible thoughts that went through his head as he hunted that Skywing. He never knew he could wish such cruelty on another dragon, and, looking back, it scared him. Abyss pushed away the notion and decided to join the others.

Amethyst smiled as Abyss approached. Amethyst is almost always smiling, but for some reason, Abyss felt it was different when it was directed towards him. It seemed warmer… Or maybe that was just him. It's just a smile. Never the less, he returned it as he sat in between her and Inferno.

"Hey Abyss! Feeling better?" Amethyst asked as he sat down.

"Much," Abyss replied. "Could almost say I never felt better."

"Good. I'm happy to hear that," Amethyst responded.

"Wish I could say the same," Inferno said with an awkward chuckle. "My jaw still hurts. Does it look swollen?" He looked slightly up and touched the left side of his jaw. Abyss looked at the bright orange dragon's jaw, and it seemed fine to him.

"No swelling," Abyss said. Inferno let out a sigh of relief.

"So what all do you remember from yesterday?" Amethyst asked in a slightly nervous tone.

"Everything," Abyss answered nonchalantly. "I never fell unconscious." For some reason Amethyst blushed a little, looked down, and started scratching behind her left horn. _Strange,_ Abyss thought. _She looks embarrassed, but why? Not sure why she would be embarrassed by anything that happened yesterday. She didn't do anything weird. I did find her reaction to my injury heart-warming though. She seemed legitimately concerned. Same with Inferno coming to help me._ Abyss realized he hadn't thanked Inferno yet. _How could I forget to do that!?_ Abyss scolded himself. _He risked his life for me, and I didn't even acknowledge it!_ "Oh! Inferno I should've said this earlier, like way earlier, but thanks for trying to save me Inferno. Means a lot."

"Don't mention it," he told Abyss. He smiled before adding, "That's what friends are for."

This was the second time someone had referred to him as a friend where he felt they truly meant it, the first being Tide. It was a little less shocking this time, but filled him with just as much joy. He had friends. Real ones. Ones that wouldn't stab him in the back or prank him. Dragons that actually cared for him, and he could allow himself to care for. Dragons he didn't have to be afraid of or worried about. _Friends… What a wonderful feeling,_ Abyss though as a very large smile emerge on his face. His stomach interrupted this moment by demanding food. As he reached for a mackerel, Abyss noticed the Sandstone was dripping wet and looked very angry. _There's no way he jumped into the ocean._

"What happened to you?" Abyss asked him in slightly amused tone.

"Don't ask," he growled back. Abyss snickered a little and started eating the fish with Inferno and Amethyst. Amethyst started asking Abyss about different sea life. He talked about different creatures he's seen and how they interacted. Amethyst seemed to become more and more interested in the ocean as he went on. Inferno expressed a little interest as well, but he had one problem with the sea.

"How can you stand swimming and even sleeping in water? It's nice to look at and drink, but why would you want to dive in it?" Inferno asked.

"I don't know. I don't see anything wrong with swimming. It's fun! Splashing around in the cool, clear water. It's almost like flying, but more refreshing and less tiring," Abyss responded to a skeptical looking Inferno. "Maybe it's just a Seawing thing."

"It has to be," Inferno agreed. "There's nothing fun about getting drenched, and it doesn't nearly compare to the freedom of flying."

They heard wingbeats followed by Tide saying, "Off your vegetarian diet again I see," as she landed by them with two claws full of berries. "After I spent all this time trying to find you berries, too!"

"I'd hate for these fish to go to waste," Abyss told Tide as he smiled and took a clawful of berries from her. Tide sat by Inferno and Sandstone. Abyss shared his fruit with Amethyst as the group talked a little about random things. Abyss kept noticing Sandstone giving Tide some very angry looks. _I wonder what that's about._ Abyss didn't have to wonder for too long.

"Are you seriously pouting about me dumping water on you?" Tide asked in an amused disbelief.

"If you try to pull something like that again, I'll bury you up to your neck. I don't like water," Sandstone growled. Tide just rolled her eyes and continued eating her berries.

The sun crept from the horizon to the middle of the sky as morning turned to midday. The group had finished eating and started trying to pass the time at the shore while waiting for Aqua. As midday neared, Aqua walked out of the ocean with another Seawing. Sandstone was the first to notice and didn't seem very happy that Aqua had come with an extra dragon. Tide noticed them next and rushed over to greet them. _Who's that other dragon?_ Abyss wondered. He looked at Tide, who seemed happy to see him. _Tide definitely knows him. Maybe he's a relative or friend._ Tide started walking the dragons to her friends.

Abyss noticed Sandstone tense up as the dragons approached. Inferno was smiling as was Amethyst, but Amethyst definitely seemed more excited. _Never seen a dragon so happy to meet others. Wish I could be that sociable and relaxed,_ Abyss thought _._ He always felt uncomfortable meeting new dragons. This was partly because he didn't trust them and partly because he was shy. Amethyst's excitement had an air of innocence to it that Abyss liked. It made him feel like nothing could go wrong, but his experience had taught him otherwise. He had started to feel a little protective over this. He felt that he needed to protect this pureness. Was that strange? He's never really felt this protectiveness towards anything. Well, maybe his necklace, but that was all he had left of his family. Along with Abyss' anxiety about meeting more dragons, who carried the ability to realize whom he was as well, he also felt like the new dragon kept looking specifically at him. Abyss shifted his front claws in the sand as his discomfort grew. _Why does he keep looking at me?_ Abyss wondered before a terrifying realization hit. _What if he thinks he recognizes me?! There's no way I'm going to be labelled "son of a traitor" and imprisoned!_ Abyss started panicking a little and took some deep breaths to calm himself. _Keep calm. If you panic, things will be worse. Just stay calm and see where this goes._ The new dragon looked similar to Aqua. Both were darker shades of blue with similar luminescent scale patterns, Aqua was just a little more vibrant. They seemed to have similar facial features too. The main difference between the two was that Aqua had light blue eyes and the new dragon had dark green. Tide stopped slightly in front of her friends and started introducing everyone.

"Reef, these are my friends." Tide nodded to each dragon as she said their name. "Inferno, Sandstone, Amethyst, and Abyss."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Tide's uncle," he smiled. He lingered on Abyss again as he looked at each one of them.

 _He does keep looking at me,_ Abyss realized. He started thinking of an escape plan. _The easiest way is to dive into the ocean, but he'd probably catch me. My best chance is to hope that my time in the Skywing Kingdom will allow me to out fly Reef. If not…. I don't want to think of that._ Sandstone moved over to stand slightly in front of Abyss and Amethyst. Abyss wasn't sure why he did; whatever the reason was, it helped break Reef's line of sight to him, so he was grateful.

"Nice to meet you, too."Amethyst said as she peaked around Sandstone.

Inferno noticed where Sandstone had decided to stand and frowned. "Hey Sandstone. How about you stop being rude and get out of Amethyst's and Abyss' way?" Sandstone didn't respond. He just kept his eyes firmly looked on Reef, who smirked.

Reef leaned over to Aqua. "Isn't that cute? He thinks I'm going to attack them."

"Yeah. He's a protective one. I noticed that too," Aqua responded. Sandstone didn't react to either of these.

"Sandstone? Protective?" Tide laughed a little. "Grouchy and stubborn, yes. Protective, no."

"Nobody asked you," Sandstone replied to Tide, still staring at Reef.

"I'm not here to fight, Sandwing. I'm only her to visit my niece's friends and see her again. It's been what? Seven years?" Reef asked Tide as he turned towards her

"Yeah… Something like that," Tide said with a strange tone.

"What took you so long? You were supposed to–"

"Cut the charade," Sandstone growled. "You've been sizing us up ever since you got here. I see how you keep looking at Abyss and Amethyst. You're thinking they're the weaker ones."

 _Weaker ones? I'm not weak,_ Abyss thought indignantly. _Well, none of them know about my ability, and I did loss to Aqua…_

Reef and Aqua laughed a little. Reef looked at Tide. "See? Protective." Reef started walking to Sandstone, who raised his barbed tail as he approached. "Very protective," Reef mumbled. He stopped mere inches from Sandstone. It would take Sandstone less than a second to stab Reef in the head with his barb. Evasion was impossible. "If I was really here to hurt you or your friends, I wouldn't put myself in a vulnerable position like this." Sandstone looked at him just a little longer and slowly lowered his tail. "Thank you. The only reason I keep looking at Abyss is he reminds me of a friend I haven't seen in ages."

"Really? I doubt you knew my father. Who was your friend?" Abyss asked nonchalantly.

"Kelp," Reef answered.

"You knew Abyss' father!?" Amethyst asked in excitement.

"I'm sure there are plenty of dragons named Kelp," Abyss said dismissively.

"Possibly. There is a guard named Kelp, who likes to retell the same story about how he's a hero since he was one of the four guards that gave Princess Tsunami the key to free her friend, but I don't like him. He's too full of himself now," Reef said with humor in his eyes. That humor slowly disappeared as he described his friend. "The Kelp I knew was a goof. He liked to joke around, and joked with his royal heritage. Queen Coral disliked him since he didn't act like a true Prince. He was selfless too. Usually thinking about other dragons over himself. Kelp had ocean blue scales; long, wavy, dark green stripes that ran down his body; and green eyes."

Reef stopped as if he expected Abyss to say something, but he didn't. That was the exact description of his father. Abyss didn't remember Kelp ever mentioning a friend named Reef, but that doesn't mean he never did. _Let's see if he knows why Kelp really left._ "Why did your friend leave?" Abyss asked.

"He fell in love," Reef responded. "He was spending time with a Nightwing which lead to a false accusation of treason, forcing him to flee. I never saw him again…."

Reef seemed to be connecting a few dots together. Others seemed to have already realized that Abyss' father was the Kelp he was talking about. Abyss' excitement was increasing. _That was the correct reason and not the false one! This dragon did know my father!_

Then Reef connected the dots. "Three moons! He is your father!" Reef exclaimed in joy. Abyss stepped around Sandstone to see Reef better. He truly looked excited. "I'm such a squid-brain! Kelp disappears with a Nightwing and here's a Nightwing-Seawing hybrid that looks similar to Kelp!" Reef quickly walked a little closer to Abyss. "Where are they? We have so much to catch up on!"

Abyss looked at the dragon as his excitement turned into sorrow. Reef looked so happy to have his friend back. Abyss didn't want to ruin that, so he just looked slightly down. Reef still seemed to understand. His wings drooped as he said a depressed "Oh". He sat down and looked at the sand for a little. Aqua slowly walked and put a wing around her brother. Tide joined Inferno, and Sandstone moved closer to Amethyst to give them some room.

"After he didn't come back, I figured that was the case," Reef said in an emotionless voice that was almost like he couldn't process his feelings. "I guess…. I guess a part of me just didn't want to believe it." Reef took a deep breath and looked at Abyss. "What happened?"

Abyss didn't really want to tell him the whole story. Every time he thought of the memory, a great deal of pain, grief, and shame took him. It always took him back to that spot and time. He didn't want to go back. He was trying to push down that event. Bury it and forget about it so the pain stopped. Abyss vaguely responded by saying, "He was killed by a Skywing." Abyss saw Inferno flinch out of the corner of his eye.

Reef still had a blank expression on his face. "I suddenly don't feel so social Aqua. I think…. I think I'm just going to lie down for a bit. It was good to see you again Tide." It looked like he tried to do a smile before walking back to the ocean.

"What about the Nightwing? Is she..." Aqua trailed off.

Abyss guessed she was going to say "dead" and solemnly nodded his head.

"You poor thing!" Aqua said sympathetically as she moved towards Abyss. He tensed up as she hugged him, but then started to relax. He tightly hugged her back. _It's been so long since the last time I've been hugged,_ Abyss thought. It felt nice. It felt like he was loved and wanted somewhere. Aqua released him and Abyss did as well even though he didn't want to. "If you ever need somewhere to stay, you are always welcome to stay with me."

"I appreciate that, but I'm considered to be a son of a traitor. I wouldn't want to endanger you or Tide," Abyss said with a hint of sorrow.

Aqua looked confused. "Kelp being a traitor was dismissed a long time ago. Reef finally convince the right dragons that Kelp didn't give away secrets."

A smile grew on Abyss' face. _That means I have a tribe. I have a home._ Abyss felt like doing somersaults through the air or something, but decided not to make a fool of himself.

"I hate to break up this sweet moment, but we need to leave if we are going to hit mainland before dark, mother," Tide said. The sun had crept across the sky as they talked. It was no longer midday but about early afternoon, and they still had a long flight ahead of them.

"I understand," Aqua said. "I'd like to talk to you before you head out again." Tide nodded and followed her mother deeper into the woods. Sandstone, Abyss, Amethyst, and Inferno sat in silence for a little. Amethyst walked over to Abyss and put a wing around him. He guessed it was to comfort him, but he was surprisingly happy. As unneeded as it was, the gesture was still appreciated and filled him with a strange warmth.

"I'm really sorry Abyss. I didn't know," Inferno said. "If I would've known, I wouldn't have–"

"It's fine Inferno," Abyss interrupted. "I know you were unaware. Just take this as a lesson to not let pride blind you." Inferno still looked unhappy, but Abyss couldn't really think of anything else to do. The group sat there for a little longer.

"Time is burning away," Sandstone said impatiently under his breath.

"Yeah, we're going to be cutting it close aren't we?" Amethyst asked.

"I'll go find her," Abyss stated as he moved away from Amethyst. He began walking in the same direction the two had left. He could hear something up ahead. _Is that… crying?_ Abyss wondered. He sped up to where the sound was coming from. He stopped behind some bushes and peered through to see Tide crying and Aqua trying to comfort her.

"– killed so many innocent dragons besides the ones in her arena. I've killed Icewings, Skywings, Mudwings, Sandwing, and Seawings. My own tribe! I even killed General Mollusk!" Tide wept.

Aqua looked equally surprised and worried. "You killed General Mollusk and his mate?"

Tide nodded before saying in an extremely pained voice that Abyss could barely hear, "I killed Mullet, too." There was a very small silence before Tide's crying intensified to pain filled wails after she said this, and Aqua's face turned to one of complete horror and pain. _She's a murderer!_ Abyss realized in terror. _What else has she done?_ As his fear of her grew, so did his pity. This didn't look like the sarcastic, tough dragon she seemed to be, nor did she look like a killer. She just looked like a broken dragon as she sobbed and tightly gripped her mother. "I still see them too," she choked out. "I keep reliving it all, all the pain and death I caused."

"You have to put this out of your head, dear. You were forced to do those things. Queen Scarlet is to blame, not you," Aqua soothed as she tried to recompose herself. "Don't blame yourself."

Abyss didn't want to watch any more of this and decided to head back to the others. He started thinking about how Tide wailed after mentioning a dragon named Mullet. It was the same sound that came from him when he lost his father– a shrieking, terrible cry of pain and loss. _Was Mullet someone she knew? Had to be… I wonder who that dragon was to her._ Abyss returned to the others. Amethyst was talking with Inferno and Sandstone was pacing.

"Is she on her way?" Sandstone asked. Abyss nodded. "Good." Abyss sat down and watched the wind blow the leaves. He couldn't get what he just saw out of his head. Who were Tide and Inferno? He knew something was up after hearing them talk about some secret or lie last night, so he knew they were closer than they let onto. _Was that also about the killings? Does Inferno know more of Tide's past, or does he barely know her too?_ He heard the bushes rustle as Aqua and Tide returned. Tide didn't look like she normally did. Her smile was still gone and her face kind of looked blank. Abyss could definitely tell that she's been crying by her red, puffy eyes. _I wonder if the others notice. If they do, will she tell them?_

"It was nice seeing you all again. I'll get out of your horns now," Aqua said before touching her snout to the side of Tide's face. "Have a safe trip!" She gave one last worried look at Tide before leaving for the ocean.

Amethyst looked closely at Tide. "Tide, are you okay?" she asked in a concerned voice.

Tide just nodded before saying, "Let's go," in a strained voice. Tide started to fly, followed immediately by Inferno.

"Did it look seem there was something wrong to you two?" Amethyst asked. Sandstone did a small nod as did Abyss soon after. "I thought so." Amethyst took the sky with Abyss and Sandstone following soon after.

They flew for the main land as the sun slowly set over the sea, turning the sky beautiful shades of orange and red. Amethyst wanted to make sure Abyss was okay, so she flew near him most of the trip. While talking, Abyss mentioned never visiting the rainforest, causing Amethyst to tell him all about it. Inferno had almost immediately flew to Tide when they left the island. He seemed to be able to calm her down. He could see Tide joking with Inferno again and smiling. Sandstone seemed to be content by himself, but he did keep scanning the water. Inferno joined Abyss and Amethyst after a while. Turns out that he was pretty interested about the rainforest as well, so Amethyst started over. Even though Abyss enjoyed spending time with Amethyst, he was worried about Tide and decided to check on her. Tide definitely seemed more cheerful as he flew up to her.

"Hey Abyss. Amethyst talk your ear off?" Tide asked slightly amused.

"No. I was wanting to check on you," Abyss responded. "You seemed pretty upset before leaving."

"Yeah… I'm fine," Tide answered. "It's was nothing. Don't worry about it."

"You don't want to talk about it?" Abyss asked.

"No," Tide did a small strange chuckle. "I'd really rather not."

Abyss nodded while saying, "Ah. Well, I'm here if you need to."

"That's appreciated," Tide said with a smile. After a small pause, she asked if she could ask Abyss a question. Abyss nodded. "So, your mother was killed by a Nightwing before you were born and father by a Skywing. I get that, but what happened with your father?"

Abyss looked at Tide. _Why is she so curious about this and so persistent?_ "I'd really rather not talk about that."

"Why?" Tide pushed.

"It's a sore topic," Abyss answered.

"It might help if you do," Tide persisted.

"No it won't. It'll just opened old wounds that I don't want to acknowledge," Abyss said. His annoyance was growing a little. _Can't she just leave this alone?_

"You keep mentioning it. You obviously want to tell someone," Tide reasoned.

"That's because dragons keep asking me about it," Abyss said in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, and they'd stop asking if you stop leaving a trail of prey for them to follow. First you state that you don't trust Skywings then you say that your father 'left' then you say he's dead and was killed by a Skywing. If you just got what happened to your father off your chest you wouldn't have to deal with being pestered," Tide reasoned.

"You really shouldn't be so curious about the pasts of other dragons when you're hiding your own secrets," Abyss snapped back. Tide immediately looked shocked and concerned. He almost immediately regretted it. _Way to go squid-brain. Now she knows you know some of her secrets. Great thing to reveal to a dragon that had KILLED others,_ Abyss internally scolded himself.

Tide looked away. "How much do you know?" she asked in a low voice.

"Probably not that much," Abyss vaguely answered.

There was a small silence before Tide spoke in a tone that sounded almost defeated, "I didn't have a choice. I–"

"I don't need to know," Abyss interrupted. "I'm not one to push dragons to answer things they don't want to."

Tide looked at him and sighed. "I get it. Just don't tell the others. Please. It's bad enough that you know. I don't want the others to think I'm a monster too."

 _Monster? Is that what I think she is? No… A monster wouldn't show the remorse she did earlier. Whatever her actions were, she's in pain over them._ Abyss just nodded. They flew in an awkward silence as night overtook the day. Luckily, land wasn't much farther away. The night was still pretty bright as the three moons shown in the sky. Abyss wondered how bright the night would be if all three were full. Amethyst took the lead again once they were over land and found a nice spot near the shore within the forest. Inferno immediately started building a fire to battle the cold winds. Abyss definitely didn't miss the northern breeze from his time in the Skywing Kingdom. _It's only going to get worse from here,_ Abyss thought with an internal sigh. The group gathered around the fire to fight off the cold. Sandstone was the closest, he was almost standing in the fire. Amethyst was also very close to him since his golden scales were producing a fair amount of heat. Surprisingly, Sandstone didn't say anything about this. Inferno tried to put a wing around Tide to keep her warm, but she pushed him away with a laugh, stating that she wasn't cold. Abyss slowly started to move a little closer to Sandstone's left side until he was able to feel some warmth from his scales. Sandstone gave him a cross look, but again said nothing.

"Alright. What shall be the topic of our game tonight?" Amethyst asked.

"How about things we'd like to do one day?" Tide offered.

"I like that! Why don't you start, Tide?" Amethyst suggested.

"How serious is this supposed to be?" Inferno asked Amethyst.

Tide answered with the thing she'd like to do one day. "One day, I'd like to be able to live without a fretful Skywing looking over my wings." Tide smiled mischievously, causing Inferno to frown.

"You'd miss it if I stopped," Inferno said with some amusement in his voice. "And if that's how this is going to be then I'd like to be able to not have to constantly look over a troublesome Seawing-Rainwing hybrid."

"Ha! Troublesome. If you say so," Tide said.

"One day I'd like to not have to watch you two love birds flirt. It's as embarrassing for you as it is annoying for me," Sandstone stated. Tide laughed, and Inferno shot him a quick look of anger.

"Being a little more serious, I'd like to be able to see the Icewing Kingdom one day," Amethyst said.

"Death wall," Tide responded.

"And freezing cold," Sandstone added.

"They don't have to be obtainable," Amethyst said a little crossly. "I'd just like to be able to do that one day."

It was Abyss' turn, but he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to say. _Everyone else's were light hearted, so I really shouldn't say what I really want… What should I say? I honestly can't think of anything else I want…_ Abyss thought for a little before finding something else to say. "I guess I'd like to see the rainforest."

"That's easy enough," Amethyst told him. "We can stop there. I'd love to show you all around my home! It's breath-taking. There's so many different creatures and plants and colors." Amethyst noticed the moons creeping across the sky. "Looks like we need to try to get some rest. I hear that flying through the mountains is exhausting. Let's keep the fire going tonight. I think it's too cold to put it out."

Inferno and Tide started gathering some nearby firewood to keep the fire going while Sandstone lied down and curled up pretty close to the fire. Abyss walked back towards the ocean. He knew this would be the last time he'd see it during this trip. He sat down in the sand and let the waves gently hit his claws as he stared out to the ocean. His home was under these peaceful waves. He smiled at the thought of having somewhere to go and less to fear. Worrying about two tribes is a lot less stressful than worrying about three. Amethyst walked over and sat down next to him.

"Whatcha up to?" she asked him.

"Just enjoying the ocean before we head inland," he answered. "We won't see the ocean again unless we go to the Sand Kingdom's shores."

"Going to take a small swim? The water feels warmer than the air," Amethyst said.

"Not in the mood right now. Also, it'd be awful once I got out. Water and cold air isn't a good combo," Abyss said with a small chuckle. He looked at Amethyst. "Are you cold?"

"A little," she responded. "But not extremely. It's nothing to worry about."

"I don't miss this from the Sky Kingdom. I hate the cold," Abyss stated before warmly adding, "You'll love the view of the mountains, though."

"Really? What is it like?" Amethyst asked him.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise. Trust me, you'll like it," Abyss told her. The breeze picked up, blasting both of them with cold air. Abyss tensed up and noticed Amethyst shivering. _She's really cold,_ he realized. _I guess that makes sense. She's used to the rainforest, which I'm sure is fairly hot._ He remember on some cold nights his father would stay near him to share body heat. Abyss looked at her again before moving closer to her. He put his right wing around her. "Better?"

"A little," Amethyst responded. She moved a little closer. Abyss guessed she was colder than he thought since he could see color returning to her face. Abyss' heart rate quickened as they looked at each other. The moonlight gave Amethyst's dark-purple scales a tint of silver. _She really is beautiful,_ Abyss thought before quickly turning back to the ocean as he started to blush.

Soon after, Amethyst said, "We should probably get some sleep." She kind of sounded disappointed, but Abyss wasn't sure why. "We have a long flight ahead." She gently moved out of Abyss' wing, making Abyss feel slightly disappointed. He just kind of wanted to stand there with her. It was nice to have company. "Good night Abyss."

"Good night Amethyst," Abyss said as she went back to the fire. He felt like there was something he needed to do, like he should say something to her or do something, but he wasn't sure what it was. He pushed the feeling away and went back to looking at the ocean. He envisioned his life with his tribe. In this vision, he was happy and accepted by the tribe…. So why did it feel less like home than it did earlier. It felt like something was missing now.


End file.
